SPRINGFIELD - Police have charged a Maryland man with five counts of arson in connection with a spate of intentional blazes earlier this month that left several families homeless, according to investigators.

Mardell Davis

Five apartment buildings or multi-family homes at 282, 286 and 292 Union St., plus 125 Andrews St. and 185 Hancock Street were set on fire after midnight on March 12. Nearby homes also were damaged by flames during a bone-chillingly cold night when firefighters battled for hours at a time, officials said.

Fire units from surrounding communities rushed to the scenes to assist Springfield firefighters.

Mardell Davis, 30, was arrested late Friday and charged with five counts of arson.

A police report drafted by Officer Mark Bacon indicates Davis was initially connected to a restraining order filed by a resident of 292 Union St. According to police, he said he carried cups of an accelerant to Union Street, where he set multiple fires.

Video surveillance shows a suspect wearing dark pants and a hoodie walking first to 292 Union St., then to 282 Union St., reports state.

"The video shows flickering of lights and suddenly there is a large burst of flame and the suspect can be seen walking out away from the fire heading east on Union Street on foot," according to reports.

The same scenario played out at 286 Union St. when a surveillance camera captures Davis allegedly entering the stairwell there, and a burst of flame erupts once again. Police say Davis confessed to all five local arsons.

Back in Maryland, Davis is wanted on a slew of charges including rape and attempted murder. Details surrounding the alleged incidents leading to the charges in Maryland weren't immediately available Saturday night.

His motive for setting the fires in Springfield was vague, according to police.

"He was mad and high, according to him," said police Capt. Trent Duda, who led the investigation but also credited the narcotics and street crimes unit, plus Officers Louis Adamas, Greg McCain and Gifford Jenkins.

Duda said the investigation was complicated by Davis offering an alias (David Lewis) to police, and by a girlfriend in this area who believed he had outstanding warrants out of Albany, New York, as opposed to Maryland.

Davis claimed he has family and friends in Springfield but was angry at a woman he left behind in Maryland, Duda said.

Police department spokesman Sgt. John Delaney also said in a statement that investigators quickly sized up the fires as targeted, not random.

"The morning after the fires the police department patrolled the immediate vicinity of the fires all week to calm the neighborhood," Delaney said. "This arrest should let all the residents on Union Street rest easy. Investigators believe the motive could be domestic."

Davis' accounts of setting the fires included specific details that could not easily be manufactured and were confirmed by surveillance cameras, reports state. He also fled from police over a barbed wire fence when they attempted to stop him, reports state.

He recounted sitting in a chair and setting the fire at Hancock Street and setting another blaze on the front porch of Andrew Street, police said.

Police recovered lighter fluid, paint thinner and Styrofoam cups from the suspect, reports state.

Davis is scheduled for an arraignment hearing at Springfield District Court on Monday.