Man accused of burning his home

A man accused of setting his Woodland Park home on fire on the same day he was to be evicted in a foreclosure will appear in Teller County court this afternoon.

Karl Patrick Mann, 46, will be advised of the first-degree arson charge against him. He was arrested Tuesday at a home in Colorado Springs, said Teller County Sheriff Kevin Dougherty. Mann was being held at the Teller County Jail on $10,000 bond.

Authorities on Friday morning were called to Mann’s home at 1551 Navajo Trail in north Woodland Park to extinguish a fire in the basement. Firefighters kept the fire from spreading, though the house was damaged by smoke and water. Dougherty said investigators were suspicious of the fire because sheriff’s deputies were supposed to evict Mann from his home that afternoon. His home had gone through foreclosure recently.

By Saturday, investigators determined the fire to be arson and obtained a warrant for Mann’s arrest, Dougherty said. Sheriff’s deputies and Colorado Springs police officers tracked Mann to a house at 1620 Lenmar Drive, where he was arrested.

“Unless we get any more information, he’s our only suspect,” Dougherty said.

Instances of homeowners intentionally setting their houses on fire are not rare for the insurance industry, said Rocky Mountain Insurance Association Executive Director Carole Walker. She said people who commit crimes such as fraud and arson do it for financial gain.

Most policies call for companies to compensate homeowners to replace their home and possessions in accidental cases.

According to Walker, insurance companies that are unable to find responsible parties in such cases are forced to pay out on claims, increasing the cost of premiums overall.

“It’s a crime that affects all of us because if someone gets away with this, it affects all of our pocket books,” Walker said.