A Centralia man was arrested and released on a misdemeanor charge Thursday after police said he attempted to burn a caterpillar nest on his property, and inadvertently set his lawn on fire.
Robert Mallgren, 70, was cited in suspicion of second-degree reckless burning, a gross misdemeanor, for the incident that happened in the 600 block of Yew Street.
According to Centralia Police Department Sgt. Dave Clary, just before 4:27 p.m., Mallgren allegedly used a lighter to burn a caterpillar nest. The dry conditions caused the fire to quickly burn the nest, and spread onto other parts of a tree.
The fire spread onto other plant life on the lawn, said Clary, including the grass, and from there began to inch closer to the fence at the end of his property and threaten some neighboring structures — including the Centralia School District bus garage.
Clary said municipal fire department response was quick and firefighters put out the fire before it had the chance to do damage to anything other than Mallgren’s possibility.
Officers also arrived on the scene and issued him the citation.
