Man arrested for setting his own home on fire appears in court

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The Yuma man accused of setting his own home on fire was formally charged in court today. 

66-year-old Paul Cavanaugh was charged with arson.

“They’ve decided to charge you in this felony complaint with one offense, that being arson of a structure. They’re alleging this offense occurred on or about the 14th day of June, 2023,” said Judge Gregory Stewart.

This was Cavanaugh's second court appearance, after a fire that firefighters say he admitted to setting off on 18th Street and Magnolia Avenue last Wednesday.

“Damage caused by a fire or explosion, having a value of more than one-thousand dollars, this is a class four felony,” said Judge Stewart.

Cavanaugh’s bond was raised from $200,000 dollars cash only to $350,000 dollars cash only.

After his family spoke out in court about his mental health issues, saying he is a danger to himself and others.

Including a neighbor and her children, who I spoke to the morning after the fire. 

“We heard a boom from our bedroom, I went to go check on my kids, my kids in turn were checking on us thinking something happened,” said the anonymous neighbor.

The Yuma Fire Department was able to take out the fire and contain it, but the home cannot be reoccupied.

The neighbor said Cavanaugh keeps to himself.

“We haven’t really seen him in a while come outside of his house or anything like that so we don’t really communicate with him much. The last four weeks we haven’t seen him, his trash hasn’t been taken out, so I don’t know what’s been going on over here,” said the neighbor.

Police say there was no one else in the house at the time of the fire.

Cavanaugh is scheduled to be back in court this Friday for his preliminary hearing.