VASSALBORO (AP) – A 51-year-old man was in jail Monday on charges that he set fire to the house where he lived with his sister and her husband after a dispute on Christmas Day.

Kenneth Knox was charged with arson, attempted murder, assault and refusing to submit to arrest. He is being held at Kennebec County Jail on $250,000 bail.

The events unfolded when police got a call from Knox’s brother-in-law, Timothy Barrett, shortly after noon on Sunday, said Kennebec County Sheriff Everett Flannery.

“He reported that Kenneth Knox was chasing him around with an ax,” Flannery said. “Apparently what had happened was Kenneth Knox was cleaning his chain saw inside the house and Timothy asked him to take it outside and clean it.”

Upset at being told to go outside, Kenneth Knox grabbed some coaxial cable and began hitting Timothy Barrett with it before grabbing the ax and chasing him, the sheriff said.

Knox then allegedly grabbed a gas can and poured the contents on a computer and on his brother-in-law and sister before dumping it on a wood-burning stove, which erupted in flames, Flannery said.

Firefighters from China, Waterville, Winslow and Vassalboro were called to put out the blaze, which gutted the house.

Police said Knox’s sister suffered minor burns on her hands, but nobody else was injured.

Knox was arrested walking along Main Street about half a mile away. Officers used pepper spray when he resisted arrest.

Flannery said he was told that the house at one time was owned by Kenneth Knox’s parents, who left it to him and his sister.