The owner of a Somerset County home destroyed by arson had made threats to burn down neighboring houses just weeks earlier, residents said.

The arson happened Wednesday on Trout Farm Road in Bakersville and a Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal said he expects to make an arrest in the next day or two. The couple who lived at the home escaped, but the homeowner was taken away by ambulance.

Neighbors said the couple lived there for 25 years.

"This was their only home and they lived here permanently," one neighbor said.

A state police fire marshal said the fire started in the front of the home, which was a bedroom area. When a fire marshal crew arrived, five fire companies were at the scene.

P.J. O'Neill, who lives just feet away from the home that was destroyed, said over the years, she's maintained a relationship with the homeowner and his wife, until a phone call a few weeks ago changed that.

"He called my sister and they were talking and he said, 'I'll just burn it all,'" O'Neill said. "I don't know if he did it on purpose or whatever, but the fact that he mentioned fire to us and that he had threatened our neighbors as well and then his cabin burns seems real suspicious."

O'Neill said the fact that the home was destroyed by arson upsets her because of the hard work that went into a house that may never be replaced.

"The stone work that they did, they actually did it themselves. The original owner and his dad pulled the stones out of the creek and did it themselves. It was very difficult," O'Neill said.

O'Neill said her sister called her around 7 a.m. to tell her that her neighbor's home was on fire. O'Neill said she's thankful her cabin was not damaged.

"The wind comes this way and it definitely could have been our place, too, but they had plenty of firemen and lots of water and they were able to contain it," O'Neill said.

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