A man has been charged with arson after he allegedly set a fire that destroyed a downtown market and displaced at least 13 people.
James Emerson, 43, is accused of starting a fire Dec. 9, 2024, in an apartment on the fourth floor of 35 Main St. in downtown Bangor. The fire and water from sprinklers damaged apartments, displacing people and forcing the ongoing closure of the Salty Brick Market on the bottom floor.
Emerson is charged with one felony count each of arson, burglary and aggravated criminal mischief, as well as one misdemeanor count each of failure to control or report a dangerous fire and criminal mischief, in Penobscot County Superior Court.
He had his first court appearance Sept. 26 and was granted a $10,000 bond. However, Emerson is serving a sentence at Mountain View Correctional Facility for theft and criminal threatening, according to Maine Department of Corrections records. His earliest release date is July 27, 2026.
Emerson allegedly broke into apartment 42 and started the fire, according to the probable cause affidavit. He was recently evicted from apartment 44.
The woman who was the tenant in the apartment Emerson was evicted from was “known to allow transients to stay with her,” the affidavit said. The woman told police Emerson moved into the apartment in November and he was kicked out because of his substance use, the affidavit said.
The day of the fire she had texted Emerson to ask to meet up at McDonald’s because he wasn’t allowed at the apartment. At 2:01 p.m. Emerson texted her that he was “handling” things, the affidavit said.
A camera inside the building captured Emerson entering at 2:07 p.m. and leaving around 2:09 p.m., the affidavit said. Other tenants are seen leaving the building at 2:15 p.m. while fire alarms are blaring.
When a neighbor called 911, he said smoke and water were coming out of the partially open door to apartment 42. The doorframe was broken near the doorknob when Bangor firefighters arrived, and found a sprinkler had extinguished the fire, the affidavit said.
The fire started at a backpack placed on top of the stove with a burner turned on underneath, the affidavit said. The burner knob had been left on “high,” and there was damage above the stove and ceiling.
The smoke detectors were covered with plastic bags, which delayed the fire alarm’s activation, the affidavit said.
The man who lived in the apartment was not home when the fire started and returned while police were on scene. He told police that he had left around 7 a.m. and locked his apartment behind him, the affidavit said.
The backpack on the stove was his, but he had left it on the floor, he told police.
Police interviewed Emerson on Dec. 19 when they noticed he was in the Penobscot County Jail for an unrelated case, the affidavit said. He told police that was at the apartment on the day of the fire but said he did not enter any apartments on the fourth floor, according to the affidavit.
The stove knob that was turned on to start the fire was swabbed for DNA and compared to DNA police got from Emerson, the affidavit said. There were two DNA profiles on the knob but there was not enough available to compare, according to the affidavit.
Emerson is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 10.
The Salty Brick Market has not reopened, but is now hosting pop-up events, according to its Facebook page. The market’s owner, James Gallagher, is running for Bangor City Council on a platform of combating crime.
There is an ongoing “insurance mess” that has kept the store from reopening, Gallagher told the Bangor Daily News. The fire destroyed everything he had built, he said.
“It was intentional, and it’s important people know the truth about what really happened,” Gallagher said.
