Emergency crews were called about 8:06 p.m. Sunday to the blaze on Germantown Road. Sheriff’s deputies said the trailer was already engulfed in flames when they arrived. The deputies attempted to get to the occupant’s bedroom, but due to the intensity of the fire in front of the trailer, they were unable to make entry.
Steven C. Strain, 59, was found dead in the mobile home. At the scene, Johnson told deputies he was smoking a cigar and laid it down on a roll of toilet paper, causing a fire.
Johnson made a statement that he would burn down the trailer if he was forced to move out, according to the complaint signed by Detective Mike Steele.
The Butler County Coroner’s Office listed the preliminary cause of death as smoke inhalation and the preliminary manner of death as an accident.
The trailer home was a total loss from the fire, according to Madison Twp. Fire Chief Kent Hall. He said estimated damages were $15,000 to the trailer and $2,000 to the contents.
Hall confirmed firefighters had put out a blaze at the same trailer on Aug. 12. During that fire, three trailer park employees pulled Johnson from inside the rear door and remove him from the trailer. He is the original owner of the trailer, according to fire officials.
Johnson is scheduled to be back on court Oct. 2 for a preliminary hearing.
