By Rebecca Goldfine,Staff Writer

PARIS – A man was arrested Sunday and charged with reckless conduct after police reported he endangered residents living in Stoneybrook Apartments.

Residents were evacuated from the complex at 28 East Main St. after a fire alarm went off in Edwin R. Scribner’s upstairs apartment, and officials feared that Scribner, who was locked inside, might have a gun.

Police arrived after Scribner, 48, refused to allow Paris Fire Chief Brad Frost into the apartment. Frost said he could smell smoke, but Scribner slammed the door shut on him after saying everything was all right.

When Officers Zane Loper and Raymond Paar tried the door, they reported feeling extreme warmth emanating from the interior, but Scribner would not respond to their shouts.

Loper broke the lock and kicked the door open.

“A huge plume of hot air came out of the door,” Loper wrote in a report. Scribner would not move from the chair he was sitting on.

The fire alarm was ringing. Police reported hot water pouring out of the bathroom shower. The thermostat was set to 89 degrees, and all burners and the broiler on the stove were on.

“The heat radiating from the oven was intense, and there were paper items nearby the stove,” Paar wrote in his report.

Police officers found no gun, but did take away two large hunting knives and two pocket knives in the apartment.

Police placed dressed Scribner and placed him in restraints before taking him to Oxford County Jail. He reportedly told police that when he gets hot, he turns the temperature up to cool down.

At Scribner’s arraignment Monday at 11th District Court in Paris, District Attorney Norman Croteau pointed to Scribner’s disturbed mental state and suggested that he receive help from the nonprofit Maine Pretrial Services, which attempts to provide bail alternatives for indigent adults who also need supervision.

Judge Paul Cote assigned Scribner a $500 cash bail or an appropriate Maine Pretrial Services contract. He also ordered Scribner not drink or take illegal drugs, and to undergo mental health treatment.