PARIS — A 34-year-old man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a single count of arson in a fire that destroyed a former Norway selectman’s house.

Robert G. Conrad of Western Avenue in Paris made his first appearance in court following his arrest and indictment last month. Conrad, who volunteered with the Oxford Fire Department before being removed from the department six or seven years ago, is charged with burning down a single-story house on Country Club Road in Norway belonging to Robert Walker.

According to an affidavit by senior investigator Daniel Young of the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office, Conrad was suspected in the 2007 blaze because he and Walker’s daughter had recently ended a romantic relationship. He was charged after investigators questioned Conrad’s girlfriend, Tanya Stickney, in their inquiry into another fire last month.

Stickney told investigators that she had been with Conrad when he set fire to the house by breaking a window and igniting the curtains. She said Conrad also threatened to kill her and her family if she told anyone about the blaze.

Young said investigators were able to determine that several items had been stolen from Walker’s house despite extensive damage at the scene. After Conrad’s arrest, Walker identified some items of auto racing memorabilia at Conrad’s parents’ house as his.

Walker was not in the residence at the time of the fire, as he was recovering from a stroke and living at a nursing home. He worked for over 30 years as the announcer at the Oxford Plains Speedway and served as a a Norway selectman from 1998 to 2007.

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