Mark J. Chase, 37, of Gardner, was charged in Gardner District Court on Monday with two counts of burning a building last week, officials said. He was ordered held on $50,000 cash bail at the Worcester County House of Correction, and a pretrial hearing was scheduled for Friday.
In a voluntary written statement he gave to the police, Chase said an argument with an ex-girlfriend upset him, and ``When I get upset, I light fires.''
Officials said last Thursday's fire that burned down the municipal building at 301 Park St. shortly before 5 a.m. also destroyed equipment used to maintain parks and cemeteries, including a lawn mower and a tractor, and singed the side of a second building. The Fire Department estimated the damage as much as $125,000.
Chase's last conviction followed the 1997 fire that burned down a three-story building in downtown Athol and damaged nearby homes. He finished serving time for that fire Nov. 24, 2003.
Police said they already were searching for Chase when Thursday's fire was reported because his family reported him missing the night before after he left a note saying he had gone for a ride and might not ever return, according to police reports.
Chase eventually returned home, and was taken by family members to Heywood Hospital for a mental evaluation, according to Police Lt. Gerald J. Poirier. While at the hospital, Chase gave police his written statement.
``I need help with my fire setting,'' he wrote at the end of his statement.
