ROXBURY - A Roxbury firefighter was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with arson by the State Fire Marshal's Office in connection with a December fire at a vacant building in Roxbury.

Joseph R. Gallant, 26, of 10 Rainbow Lane in Roxbury, has an initial appearance on May 22 in Oxford County Superior Court, state fire investigator Christopher B. Stanford said in an e-mail on Friday afternoon.

Gallant was taken to Rumford Police Department where he was booked and then released, an official said.

Stanford said he charged Joseph Gallant with intentionally setting fire to the building at 6 Old County Road. Several fire departments responded to the fire, which occurred in the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 2007, Stanford said.

"Gallant was a firefighter for the Roxbury Fire Department at the time and lived just down the street from the fire scene," Stanford said. "Gallant voluntarily stepped down from the Fire Department during the investigation."

Calls and an e-mail to Stanford for further comment on Friday about probable cause were not immediately returned.

Roxbury Fire Chief Ray Carver, contacted by phone early Friday evening in Mexico, declined comment on the case, but did confirm that Joseph Gallant had voluntarily resigned during the investigation.

The arrest came at the end of a two-month investigation by the State Fire Marshal's Office in Augusta. Assistance was also provided by several area police and fire departments and the Central Maine Violent Crimes Task Force.

Gallant is the son of Rumford Parks Commission Superintendent Tim Gallant, a former Roxbury selectman.

Calls for comment on Friday to both Joseph and Tim Gallant were not immediately returned.

Joseph Gallant was involved in a bizarre incident last March when he was found lying in the driveway of a Roxbury Road couple, bleeding from a head wound and writing the number 33 in blood on his car. Gallant, who had been a firefighter for about a year at the time, told police he had been forced off the road on his way home. He was treated and released by Rumford Hospital.