Bath man gets 6 years in Stinson Cannery fire

BATH – A Bath man found guilty of setting the largest fire in the city’s history, a blaze last spring that destroyed the former Stinson Cannery, is headed to prison for six years after showing no remorse for what he had done.

Franklin Dolliver Jr., 23, was sentenced Thursday in Sagadahoc County Superior Court to 14 years, with all but six years suspended, and four years of probation following his release.

He also was ordered to pay a total of $20,000 in restitution to a family whose home sustained heat damage and to Bath and 11 other communities that fought the May 4 fire at the former sardine cannery along the Kennebec River.

In pleading no contest to a charge of reckless arson, he said there will always be doubt about his role in the fire. “As far as my guilt, that will always remain in question. If I truly had reason to harm someone, I would never have called 911,” he said.

The hearing came after a plea agreement negotiated earlier this month between Dolliver’s lawyer, Howard O’Brien, and District Attorney Geoff Rushlau. Charges of arson, theft and burglary were dismissed.

The fire occurred six weeks after the city denied an application to rezone the property for a townhouse development. The owner, Bruce Poliquin, told Justice Andrew Horton that the sequence of events left him in the awkward position of having to defend his innocence.

“I was questioned a number of times, ‘Bruce, did you set this fire?’ That hurt a bit, to be honest with you,” Poliquin said.

Horton said there was not a “scintilla” of evidence to suggest that Poliquin had anything to do with setting the fire.

Earlier in the investigation, prosecutor Rushlau described Dolliver’s action as a classic case of vandalism. Daniel Young of the State Fire Marshal’s Office determined Dolliver called 911 the night of the fire from a pay phone outside a Centre Street restaurant. Dolliver reported seeing flames leaping from the cannery, which is not visible from the pay phone.

“I’m a little disappointed by what he said in there,” Young said after the sentencing. “I don’t have any doubt he set the fire. We feel comfortable that he was in there [the cannery] and he was responsible.”