A Stearns County prosecutor this week dropped a felony arson charge against a Sartell man who was accused of starting a fire inside the home of his mother-in-law, who had a hoarding problem and was no longer living in the Sartell house.

Erin M. Idzerda, 42, was accused of starting a fire in the home's basement in June 2019. According to the criminal complaint filed in March 2021, the Sartell fire marshal determined the fire was intentionally set to a pile of combustibles using an open-flame device such as a cigarette or lighter.

Idzerda pleaded not guilty in February 2022, after which Idzerda's attorney, Ken Wilson, sent prosecutors a report from an expert who said local authorities didn't follow the correct methodology and that their determination wouldn't be accepted in the professional fire investigation community.

William Hicks, a nationally certified fire and explosion investigator, said the city's fire investigator improperly ruled out electrical fixtures, the water heater and furnace as potential causes, and didn't determine the cause of two tripped breakers on the home's service panel.

Wilson argued the state needed to prove the fire was intentionally set to charge Idzerda with first-degree arson. Ole Tvedten, chief of the criminal division at the Stearns County Attorney's Office, said the charge was dismissed because prosecutors felt they could no longer prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to court documents, police responded to a report of property damage at a two-story house on the 800 block of 2½ Street N. in Sartell on June 14, 2019, after neighbors reported seeing smoke damage through the windows.

The fire marshal found soot throughout the house, as well as items stacked and scattered on furniture and floors "leaving only a small walking path up the stairs and throughout the house," documents state.

Idzerda's mother-in-law hadn't lived in the house for more than a year at the time of the fire. Idzerda had been periodically checking on the house while it was vacant and told investigators the hoarding problem was a stressor for the family.

Court documents state no witnesses saw Idzerda at the house at the time of the fire and the front door was unlocked when police initially responded to the house.