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Arsonist gets 18 months in pen A firebug from Central Point was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday for torching his roommate's bedroom. Steven Michael Petersen, 43, entered a plea of no contest to first-degree arson for the Feb. 15 blaze that damaged his home on Bursell Road. He denied the charge but agreed the state had enough evidence to convict him. Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Holly Smith told the court that Petersen apparently became inflamed with jealousy after his roommate, a woman, went out for a dinner date with another man. She said Petersen tried to blame the fire on a faulty heater -- a claim that experts for both sides eventually agreed was impossible. "The heater wasn't even plugged in," Smith said, "so his defense went up in flames, so to speak." As part of the sentence, Judge Patricia Crain ordered Petersen to pay $200 to cover some of the costs incurred by state arson investigators and forensic experts. Crain also placed Petersen on three years of parole and fined him $600 in court costs and fees. Restitution was not specified, pending a future hearing. In exchange for the plea, the state dropped a charge of first-degree criminal mischief. The cause of the fire, beyond Petersen's involvement, was never established. Smith said Petersen had five convictions in California for arson-related offenses. "He seems to have a small problem with this type of crime," she said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA