By Shereen Siewert
A 35-year-old Athens man is accused of setting a weekend house fire after deputies arrived at the scene.
The Marathon County Sheriff’s Department issued the following release on Monday about the case:
At 11:33 a.m. Sunday the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a house fire at 216 Mueller St. in the Village of Athens. The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office, Athens Fire Department, and the Hamburg Fire Department responded.
Upon arrival, there was no fire and deputies saw a male in the second level of the home breaking windows. It was found the male had barricaded himself in the upstairs. While the deputies were inside the residence, the male started a fire upstairs.
After a few minutes of trying to access the barricaded door, the deputies were informed the male had jumped from a second story window to the ground outside.
The home sustained severe damage as a result of the fire and is considered a total loss.
The male, Steven Mattfield (35), was taken into custody. Steven was transported to the Marathon County Jail and booked on charges of Arson and Recklessly Endangering Safety.
This is a developing story that will be updated when a criminal complaint is filed.
