Prosecutors have charged a 30-year-old Lincoln man with arson for a fire a week ago that destroyed the house where he lived near 48th Street and Pioneers Boulevard.
Zachary Childress made his first court appearance on the second-degree arson charge Wednesday, when a judge set his bond at $60,000.
In court records, Lincoln Police Officer Tyler Lindstedt said at about 2:45 a.m. Jan. 19 he was called to a house fire at 4310 S. 49th St. Childress, who lived there, wasn't home.
Lindstedt said the investigation led officers to believe that Childress woke up from a bad dream, started his mattress on fire with a Bic lighter, then tried to put it out. But the fire reignited and spread out of control.
Lindstedt said the house was a total loss.