Charges: Duluth landlord started apartment on fire while blaring "We Didn't Start The Fire"
DULUTH, Minn. -- A landlord in Duluth deliberately set his apartment on fire, all while blasting Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," according to recently filed charges.
Travis Carlson, 37, faces one felony charge of first-degree arson in connection to the May 18 incident, court documents show.
According to the criminal complaint, officers were dispatched shortly after 4 a.m. to the 2400 block of Fourth Street in Duluth on the report of an upstairs apartment on fire. When emergency crews arrived, they found the upstairs apartment on fire with "We Didn't Start the Fire" blaring from the unit, the complaint said.
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The downstairs tenant says they woke up to their landlord, identified as Carlson, "smashing glass and breaking things" for about 20 minutes, according to the complaint. Carlson then knocked on the downstairs tenant's apartment, telling the tenant that "the house is on fire."
A neighbor also told officers that they saw Carlson under his truck with gas cans, going in and out of the house. An investigation revealed a drilled hole in his truck's gas tank with lids to gas cans laying around the truck. The complaint also notes that "green liquid lines from a burned accelerant" stained several pieces of furniture in the apartment.
Officials say Carlson was found the next day with "fresh burn injuries" to his arms and legs.
If convicted, Carlson could face up to 20 years in prison.
