Investigators accused an Oxford man of trying to kill his estranged wife and their three children Sunday by setting fire to a Nottingham home while his family slept inside.

Jeffrey Marc Bauer, 33, used an accelerant to set fire to a split-level home he and his wife own at 269 Friends Road, investigators said.

Lori Bauer, Jeffrey Bauer's 37-year-old wife, their three daughters, who are 13, 6 and 5, and a 28-year-old man were sleeping in the Little Britain Township home.

Investigators said all five escaped injury.

"Thanks to the quick actions of the neighbors and people inside, no one was hurt," Pennsylvania State Police Sgt. Doug Burig said.

Jeffrey Bauer was arraigned Sunday on five counts of criminal attempt to commit homicide, five counts of aggravated assault and one count of arson.

Lancaster County Assistant District Attorney Chris Larsen said each of the five counts of attempted homicide and the arson charge carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Jeffrey and Lori Bauer are still legally married and together own the home, investigators said. John Jones, 28, moved in about two weeks ago, Burig said.

It was unclear Sunday night when Mr. and Mrs. Bauer separated and when Jeffrey Bauer moved in to the Oxford home.

A protection-from-abuse order prohibited Bauer from being at the home or having contact with his wife and daughters, according to police. Investigators did not say when the PFA was issued.

State police and the district attorney's office are investigating the case. Larsen said "the investigation led us to him (Jeffrey Bauer)."

Bauer was arrested near the home soon after he allegedly set it on fire, Larsen said.

"Examination of the scene and interviews by the responding troopers indicated the fire was likely incendiary," police said in a news release.

The blaze was contained to the second-floor walls and the attic of the home, Robert Fulton Assistant Fire Chief Clair Nolt said.

The fire caused about $75,000 in structural damage.

Bauer allegedly poured an accelerant on the exterior of the home near a second-floor deck and ignited it, investigators said.

The fire burned vinyl siding from the home before spreading inside the walls and into the attic. Nolt said "the fire didn't spread into the living space," but second-floor rafters were weakened and collapsed into the kitchen.

Firefighters from Quarryville and Rawlinsville helped Robert Fulton Fire Company control the blaze in about 20 minutes, Nolt said.

Dennis Woodring, a detective from the Dauphin County District Attorney's office, investigated the fire with the help of an accelerant-detecting dog.


Brett Hambright's e-mail address is bhambright@lnpnews.com.