Woman Sentenced To Probation For Setting Her House on Fire

A woman from Platteville has been sentenced to three years of probation for setting fire to her own home. 51 year old Jayne McPhail received the sentence from Grant County Circuit Court Judge Craig Day after she pleaded no contest to one charge of unsafe burning of own building. A plea of no contest means the defendant admits no wrongdoing but accepts a given punishment. The charge stems from an April 28 incident where authorities responded to McPhail’s home in Platteville Township for a report of a woman who had set her home on fire and was refusing to leave. The woman, identified as McPhail, had been extricated from the building by fire officials by the time Grant County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrived. She was taken to Grant County Regional Hospital for medical clearance prior to her arrest, but no further injuries were reported. Grant County Sheriff Nate Dreckman stated the building sustained between $120,000 and $150,000 in damage.