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Cops: Squatter at 69th St. Payless started fire

The other shoe has dropped on the investigation into the fire at an Upper Darby Payless on Monday and investigators say a sole person is responsible for the blaze.

The other shoe has dropped on the investigation into the fire at an Upper Darby Payless on Monday and investigators say a sole person is responsible for the blaze.

That individual is a homeless man who was squatting on the abandoned second floor of the shoe store on 69th Street near Ludlow. Cops say he is responsible for Monday's blaze that totaled the store and severely damaged many others along the popular shopping corridor.

At a news conference this morning in front of the burned-out Payless, Upper Darby police Superintendent Michael Chitwood announced the arrest of James Morris, 54, who is believed to have accidentally started the blaze. Morris is charged with trespassing, for squatting in the building, and with theft because he was scrapping metal from store, police said.

Just minutes before the blaze, Morris was even seen drinking booze and throwing scrap metal - including a fire extinguisher - from the second story of the building down to a man who was collecting it on the ground, according to his arrest affidavit. Morris was to be paid for the metal in alcohol, beer and vodka, Chitwood said.

Morris was living on the second floor of the shoe store with two or three other people, said Chitwood. It's believed they accessed the second floor through a fire escape entrance on that level, according to police. The second floor is not accessible from inside the store.

Both Chitwood and Upper Darby Mayor Thomas Micozzie said they believe more people could be squatting in the empty second floors of the stores along 69th Street. Micozzie said he ordered a full inspection of the entire area.

Police said Morris was inside the building at the time of the fire. While the cause of the fire remains under investigation, Chitwood said it appears that Morris accidentally set the blaze. The top cop said the suspect is a smoker, but reinforced that the exact cause of the fire remains unknown.

It took firefighters several hours on Monday to fight the blaze, which broke out around 5:30 p.m. Adjacent buildings were damaged in the fire and residents of a nearby road were evacuated as a precaution but no injuries were reported.

While investigators were on the scene Tuesday, Morris allegedly approached them and asked "'How bad is it?'" according to his affidavit. While Morris was speaking with investigators at the scene, other officers were interviewing a witness and broadcast a description of Morris over police radio. The witness was brought to Morris and positively identified him as the man he saw throwing scrap metal from the building's second story prior to the fire.

Morris is being held at the Delaware County prison on $50,000 bail.