Market Basket employee charged over 2 fires at Gloucester store

An employee is accused of setting a pair of fires at a Market Basket grocery store in Gloucester, Massachusetts, last week, investigators announced Thursday.

Matthew Johnson, 35, faces two counts of burning personal property and two counts of attempting to burn a building, state and local fire officials and Gloucester police announced.

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The fire was reported Friday night about 8:20 p.m. When firefighters arrived, they saw a fire inside the back of the building on Gloucester Crossing Road, then saw another fire inside the building, officials said.

The blaze was out by 9 p.m., and no one was hurt. The store reopened Saturday after being cleaned and ventilated.

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State fire marshal's office investigating 2 fires at Market Basket store in Mass.

The state fire marshal's office is now investigating two fires at a Market Basket store in Massachusetts. Follow NBC10 Boston: https://instagram.com/nbc10boston https://tiktok.com/@nbc10boston https://facebook.com/NBC10Boston https://twitter.com/NBC10Boston https://bsky.app/profile/nbcboston.com

Investigators didn't immediately share why Johnson is suspected of starting the fires.

He was due to appear in Gloucester District Court Thursday afternoon. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak to the charges.