A Mandan man has been charged for starting a fire in his neighbors' home.

Daryl J. Dunham, 54, has been charged with arson, a Class Bfelony, and criminal trespass, a Class C felony. If convicted on both counts, he could face up to 15 years in prison and fines of $15,000.

Dunham appeared before South Central District Court Judge Donald Jorgensen in custody of the Morton County jail. Jorgensen set bond for Dunham at $10,000 cash on Friday.

Lt. Paul Leingang of the Mandan Police Department said Dunham has prior arson convictions from the 1970s and 1980s in Cass County.

Leingang said in an affidavit that Julie Gard and Michelle Matthees, the women who live at the home at 311 Fifth Ave. NW, had been on vacation from June 21 to July 4.

On July 8, Matthees found a rag that had been used to start the fire in the basement of the home, the affidavit said. The Mandan Fire Department and Mandan police arrived to investigate. Leingang wrote that he later investigated the fire.

The floor and wall had minor damage from heat and direct flame contact, there was smoke damage on the wall where the fire started and there was a small hole on the opposite side of the wall where the fire began to burn through the wall, Leingang wrote.

"It extinguished on its own," Leingang said Friday. "They were lucky."

Gard and Matthees told Leingang that Dunham had paid them unwanted attention since they moved into the home more than two years ago, and they told responding officers that Dunham had sent them numerous letters and gifts during that time.

Leingang wrote that he interviewed Dunham at the Mandan Police Department on Aug. 3. He wrote that Dunham told him that he started a fire at the home in late June.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)