VAN BUREN COUNTY (WKZO) -- A walkaway from an adult foster home may be formally charged with arson today after he nearly blew himself up near Mattawan Saturday night.
The 18-year-old had escaped through the woods in Antwerp Township and county deputies were using K-9’s to track him when they heard an explosion up ahead. They say the teen had apparently poured gasoline onto a woodpile and two tractors inside a poll barn on 24th St. and lit a match.
The fumes caused a large concussion that sounded like an explosion, but didn’t do all that much damage to the structure or its contents. The teen was also uninjured. The fire was quickly extinguished. He has confessed and was jailed on an arson count for now.
