NORWAY — A 69-year-old man is accused of throwing a beer can at a police officer and disrupting firefighters as they extinguished a blaze behind his house.

Donald R. Cummings called authorities when a sauna, not attached to his house, caught fire Wednesday evening at about 5 p.m. After a scuffle with firefighters and police, Cummings was arrested and charged with obstructing government administration and disorderly conduct.

According to Paris Lt. Michael Dailey, once firefighters arrived, Cummings became angry with their response time.

“I guess the response was longer than what he thought was necessary, but he lives well out of town,” Dailey said. Cummings lives at 63 Jackson Lane.

Norway firefighters requested police assistance. Paris police responded because the Norway police were busy.

“When we got there, the Norway fire chief (Dennis Yates) basically said the homeowner was intoxicated; he was being hostile toward the firefighters,” Dailey said.

According to Dailey, alcohol was “definitely an issue” in the incident.

Dailey said police found Cummings leaning against a firetruck, holding a beer. Paris officer William Cook approached Cummings and asked if the truck was his. When Cummings said it wasn’t, Cook told him to stop leaning on the truck.

Dailey, reading from Cook’s arrest report, said Cummings became unruly, swore at Cook and threw a beer can at him.

Norway Assistant Chief Jim Tibbetts said it was a small chimney fire in which the stovepipe went into the chimney, and that firefighters acted quickly enough to save most of the sauna. He said the building was about 12 feet by 16 feet.

“(The fire) was contained to right in the very corner where the chimney was,” Tibbetts said.

Cummings was booked at Oxford County Jail at around 6:40 p.m. by officer Cook, and bailed on $200 shortly afterward. Obstructing government administration is a Class D offense, punishable by up to 364 days in jail; disorderly conduct is a Class E offense, punishable by up to six months in jail.

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