Man rescued from burning building arrested for arson

Authorities arrested a man they say tried to kill himself by setting fire to a house in Richmond's East End, only to be rescued by firefighters from the burning building.

Authorities charged David Junious McLean Jr., 34, with arson after the fire that started late Wednesday night in the 1200 block of North 26th Street.

The blaze was reported at 11:43 p.m. When the first fire trucks arrived, the two-story house was ablaze.

Firefighters rescued McLean, who was trapped on the second floor, by erecting a ladder to a back porch, said fire Lt. Shawn L. Jones.

He was taken to VCU Medical Center and is now in the Richmond City Jail, according to Jones. No one else was in the home at the time of the fire, he said. McLean lives in the 1500 block of North 22nd Street.

The blaze was under control by 2:30 a.m. yesterday. -- Reed Williams