Phoenixville Explosion Suspect Has Fiery Past

The Phoenixville artist Tuesday for allegedly setting off an explosion in the bathroom of a busy bar has a history of fire incidents, Phoenixville Patch reported today.

In 2003, Douglas Ferrin was cooking pork chops in a Lake Worth, Fla., art studio when a grease fire started. The flames spread to five pounds of gunpowder Ferrin had stored in the studio, and the ensuing explosions destroyed the studio and an SUV parked nearby.

The incident, which came to be known as the "pork chop explosion," shut down the city's business district for the evening, according to The Palm Beach Post.

In 2007, Ferrin, who had since moved to Phoenixville, suffered burns in a Church Street blaze that caused $600,000 in damages. In that case, a hot lamp ignited combustible materials.

Earlier this week, the 51-year-old artist was charged with risking a catastrophe, arson and other charges after allegedly setting off an explosion, possibly involving dynamite, in the bathroom of Molly Maguire's pub in Phoenixville. No one was injured in that explosion.

Read the of Ferrin's fiery past at Phoenixville Patch.