Jeremy Welling has been charged with a felony count of arson for a June 27 garage fire.

Great Falls Fire Rescue was dispatched to the fire at 1:37 a.m. and the first engine arrived on scene at 913 3rd Ave. N. at 1:44 a.m. to find a small fire burning up the side of a garage.

GFFR crews quickly extinguished the fire, which was determined to be arson and Welling was in custody on June 27.

Welling has also been charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest and obstructing a peace officer.

Vehicles crash into GFFR Station 2, causing significant damage; city approved for fire training center loan

Great Falls Police Department officers were dispatched to the scene and upon arriva, the caller told officers a male in a dark colored Chevy pickup had started the fire and was trying to leave.

Another officer arrived, blocking the pickup in, making contact with Welling, who had an orange lighter in his hand, according to court documents.

Officers told Welling to get out of his truck and place his hands on the hood of the patrol car, which Welling did, but as officers grabbed his arms and told him to put his hands behind his back, Welling tensed, pulled away and resisted arrest, according to court documents.

GFFR reminding residents of fireworks rules, safety

The northeast corner of the garage was still on fire when officers arrived and the siding on the east side had melted and torn down.

Sheila Rice owns the property, as well as others in the area, and had rented the upstairs unit ot 917 3rd Ave. N. to Welling until June 26, when he was evicted for threatening the downstairs resident.

The witness who called 911 told officers that she’d seen Welling exit his truck, pull a tire from the truck bed, spray it with a liquid, then light it on fire.

After burning the tire for awhile, he picked it up and carried it about 20 feet, until the witness lost sight of him, but when he returned shortly thereafter, the tire was no longer on fire, according to court documents.

Welling put the tire back into his truck bed and drove away, the witness told officers.

The witness soon after received a call from her neighbor, who said a man was lighting Rice’s garage on fire, so she went downstairs to Rice’s backyard where she saw Welling throwing kindling at the base of the garage.

They didn’t see flames at that point, but then the witness returned to her neighbor’s house where they saw the fire ignite and Welling continuing to throw things on the fire, according to court documents.

The neighbor told officers that he smelled smoke coming from the alley, looked outside and saw the pickup parked next to Rice’s open garage.

The neighbor saw smoke and flames coming from behind the truck, Welling going into the garage, back to to his truck and continuing to throw things on the fire, according to court documents.

Another neighbor saw Welling parked on the street, take the tire from the truck and light it on fire, dragging it to the front of the property, but the tire fire went out. Welling then carried it back to the truck and drove off, catching some of the incident on his security camera.

While being searched, officers found drug paraphernalia with what appeared to be methamphetamine residue on Welling, according to court documents.

Welling had a deferred prosecution agreement for charges of assault on a minor and endangering the welfare of a child from 2020, as well as 28 misdemeanor convictions, including drug paraphernalia and disorderly conduct, according to court documents.

Prosecutors have requested Welling’s bond be set at $25,000 and is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on June 30.