A St. Paul man stuffed burning mail into the mail slot of a local fire station and urinated on the front steps, according to charges filed Thursday in Ramsey County District Court.
Marc O. Norberg, 60, allegedly told police that he thought there was a vacuum space inside the station and wanted to see if a fire would be contained in it. Norberg is charged in Ramsey County District Court with one count of attempted first-degree arson for the May 30 incident.
According to the complaint: St. Paul firefighters returned to their station at 860 Ashland Avenue about 4 a.m. that day. They had been on a call, and were gone for five minutes.
"Upon their return, they smelled smoke coming from the front entrance of the station," the complaint said. "When they went to check it out, they found a rug on fire just inside the front door."
The firefighters extinguished the flames and discovered Norberg stand outside by the front door.
"It appeared that Norberg had also urinated on the front steps leading to the door," the complaint said.
Police arrested Norberg, who was allegedly captured on in-squad video admitting to starting the fire.
In a police interview later that day, Norberg allegedly said he used his cigarette lighter to light some mail and then stuffed it through the fire station mail slot. Norberg told police he thought the fire station contained a vacuum space inside.
