LIVERPOOL — A 35-year-old Liverpool man faces charges of arson and criminal contempt after members from the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office accused him of violating an order of protection and setting a Clay townhouse on fire.
The suspect — Nicholas D. Faes of Gulfline Road, Liverpool — suffered smoke-inhalation during the residential fire reported at 12:19 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4, at 8407 Shallowcreek Road between Bramblebush Circle and Burningtree Road.
At the Shallowcreek Road scene on Jan. 4, Onondaga County Fire Investigators determined the fire was intentionally started. The blaze began on the second floor of the two-story structure.
According to the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, Faes violated a stay-away order of protection.
After Faes was treated at a local hospital, he was released into the custody of sheriff’s detectives who charged him with second-degree arson. He was arraigned Jan. 4 before City Court Judge Ross P. Andrews.
Faes was also charged with first-degree criminal contempt for violating a stay-away order of protection, and bail was set at $50,000 cash or $25,000 bond.
Second-degree arson is a class B felony, punishable by a prison sentence of up to 25 years. And even if Faes has no prior felony convictions, if he is convicted of arson in the second degree he will face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison. First-degree criminal contempt is a class E felony.
At the Shallowcreek Road townhouse, heavy smoke and flames poured from the second floor as fire trucks arrived. Three people were inside the home when the blaze broke out, deputies said. All three safely evacuated the house which was destroyed by the fire.
Moyers Corners Fire Department Deputy Chief Colin Bailey said the home was no longer habitable. The adjoining townhouses suffered minor damage, he said.
It took firefighters about 51 minutes to knock down the fire.
The home’s residents were displaced by the event, deputies said. The American Red Cross worked to relocate the two residents.
Three years ago, Faes was arrested by the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office.
At that time he was charged with second-degree criminal mischief and third-degree menacing following an investigation of a domestic dispute in the town of Schroeppel, shortly after 8 p.m. June 22, 2018, according to the Oswego Sheriff’s Office.
The Shallowcreek Road fire was the second major fire in Clay in less than 24 hours. A fire that started in a garage at 12:57 a.m. Monday, Jan. 3, at 8124 Oldbury Road in Clay displaced two adults and three children, according to the Moyers Corners Fire Department.
