Official: Light did not cause fire Charleston man accused of setting blaze at state trooper’s home

BANGOR – A fire that damaged the home of a Maine State Police trooper was set and not caused by a faulty droplight, a state fire investigator testified Tuesday during the second day of testimony in the state’s case against a 45-year-old Charleston man.

Vance Lambert is charged with setting the Aug. 21, 2000, fire that damaged the Enfield home of Trooper Cliff Sibley. The state has suggested that Lambert may have set the fire to help the Sibleys so they could collect the insurance money. The Sibley family was away camping when the fire occurred.

On Tuesday, Lambert’s attorney, Arthur Greif of Bangor, took aim at Ed Archer, an investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office. He questioned Archer’s experience, noting that he was not a certified fire investigator and had been on the job only four months when he investigated the Sibley fire and determined it was set.

On the stand Archer testified that what appeared to be a combustible trail of paper had been left on the stairs leading from the basement. Near the top of the stairs was a glass jar containing paintbrush cleaner and stuffed with paper.

He said the fire was set in the basement beneath the stairs, next to a 1-gallon Coleman fuel can.

Jurors saw pictures of the damaged basement, charred stairs and smoke-damaged kitchen, dining room and living room.

Greif focused much of his cross- examination of Archer on a drop- light that was located just 11/2 or 2 feet from the point of origin. Archer maintained the droplight did not cause the fire because it was too far away from the origin point.

The light was broken and the plastic portions melted away by the heat of the fire. Through his questioning Greif suggested that the light could have been moved farther from the point of origin by firefighters or water from the hoses while the department was fighting the fire.

Archer also testified that dogs trained in the detection of accelerant found nothing when they searched Lambert’s home, clothing, boots and truck.

Also on the stand Tuesday was William Macomber, a senior electrical inspector for the state. Macomber examined wiring and electrical components at the fire scene and said he ruled out the cause as being electrical. He also examined the droplight and said it was on when the bulb broke and therefore was not faulty as Greif had put forward as one theory for the cause of the fire.

Macomber did acknowledge, however, that had the light fallen, the breaking of the bulb would produce an arc and a possible spark.

“A spark then could hit a pool of accelerant and start a fire, could it not?” Greif asked.

“I suppose,” Macomber responded.

Lambert acknowledges he was at the Sibley home just moments before the fire broke out. He was there, with permission, getting building supplies from Sibley’s basement that he was going to use for his own home-improvement projects.

He left the home about 5:05 p.m. and 10 minutes later a passing motorist saw smoke pouring from the eaves.

The state put forth no clear motive for the fire since Lambert and Sibley were friends, but said it was possible Lambert was trying to help the Sibleys, who were in deep financial debt.

Today the state will call a witness to testify about the Sibleys’ finances, said Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts.

Sibley, who is testifying for the defense, also may be on the stand today. The case could go to the jury Thursday.