A 39-year-old Estes Express Lines employee has been charged with arson in connection with the fire Wednesday night at the terminal in Mahoning Township.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Mahoning Township police officer Corey Frey in the case against Anthony Dick:

At 7:32 p.m. Wednesday, the fire was reported at Estes Express Lines, 457 Mahoning Dr. E.

When Frey arrived the trailer was in flames and employees said the trailer contained hazardous and flammable material.

Employees also said racks of propane tanks were on the other side of the burning trailer.

The fire expanded to consume five trailers, and the building also sustained heavy damage.

At the time of the fire, the business was in operation and there were employees inside.

The fire was brought under control and extinguished by about 85 firefighters from seven fire departments.

Frey spoke with employees who were working in the area, and they directed him to speak with Dick, who said he was working out of Door 46 and had moved all his freight near Door 37.

He said he went to the bathroom for about two or three minutes and when he came out, two of his co-workers came up to him telling him that the trailer at Door 39 was on fire, so he then grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran toward the burning trailer to put the fire out.

The business dispatcher told Frey that Dick came to him earlier in the day sometime around 2:30 p.m. alerting him to a fire in the middle area of the building on the second floor.

Dick extinguished that fire, which was in an area not used by employees.

The State Police fire marshal responded and determined that three individual fires were set inside the middle of the building that had been extinguished.

A single fire in the front/north unused portion of the building was extinguished by the fire department along with the additional large fire at the rear/south of the building that consumed the trailers and caused damage to the building.

Police found an Ozark Trail Flint and Steel Fire Starter in Dick’s backpack.

Dick said he purchased the flint toward the end of July for a camping trip, and denied any involvement in setting the fire.

Again on Friday, he initially denied involvement in the fires.

Upon further questioning, Dick said he accidentally backed into a flammable skid, causing a small fire to break out, and that he ran for an extinguisher, but was too late. He said he was afraid he would be blamed for another fire that occurred in a dumpster at the business on Aug. 11. Police are still investigating that fire.

Dick was asked if he intended for the fires to harm anyone, to which he replied “no.”

Despite his answer, it was determined that the multiple points of fire origin made it impossible for the fires to be accidental.

Dick has been charged with two felony counts of arson and one felony count of risking catastrophe.

He is incarcerated in the Carbon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 monetary bail, and scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Sept. 7 before District Judge Casimir T. Kosciolek of Lansford.