Lewiston, Idaho According to court filings, investigators connected an 82-year-old Lewiston man to a string of fires in Lewiston and Culdesac earlier this month, leading to three felony arson charges against him.
Two further charges of third-degree arson have been brought against Carl D. Vulgamore. Earlier this week, he was additionally charged with one count. According to court filings, between August 3 and August 9, 2025, Vulgamore’s maroon Chevrolet pickup was spotted at or close to the locations of several fires.
In Lewiston, three of the fires were located on a hillside between 15th and 16th streets, off of 8th Avenue. On the evening of August 8, three suspicious fires occurred in the Culdesac neighborhood, all of which were within a quarter-mile radius of one another.
Deputies and firefighters responded to a grass fire at Highway 95 and Culdesac, and then to another fire at a house on Morning Glory Lane, according to recently filed court documents. Before it was put out, the second fire spread toward the house and barns. Deputies were alerted to a third fire on Cottonwood Creek Road, about half a mile away, while they were putting out the first one.
Just before he observed a fire along the road, a witness reported to deputies that he saw a red and silver vehicle drive by, do a U-turn, and then drive by again. Shortly before the fire was discovered at 5:42 p.m., security camera footage from a nearby household showed what seemed to be Vulgamore’s Chevrolet pickup heading east past the house at 5:31 p.m. and heading back west at 5:39 p.m.
Surveillance footage purportedly shows Vulgamore’s pickup pulling up to the location, lingering for a moment, and then driving away right before the fires broke out in the Lewiston fires on August 5, 6, and 9.
When police examined Vulgamore’s car before his arrest in Lewiston on Monday, they discovered a long wand-style lighter and several crumpled paper towels that were kept under a cushion on the front seat. Vulgamore informed the police that the lighter was for camping and the paper towels were for hand washing. None of the fires he claimed to have started.
His assertions, according to investigators, were at odds with physical evidence, camera recordings, and witness statements. Authorities stated that the conditions were compatible with arson and that no natural or unintentional sources of ignition were discovered at any of the fire sites.
Vulgamore’s bond for the initial arson allegation was set at $100,000 when he appeared in court on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, he returned to court on the two new accusations, which were connected to the fires in the Culdesac region. Informing the court that Vulgamore had also been charged with numerous misdemeanor offenses over the past four years, the prosecutors requested a large bond.
According to court documents, the defendant has been linked to five different fires in a six-day span and is a community risk, which is why the state is asking for a large bond. Judge Karin Seubert put the bond at $5,000 on the new charges, despite the fact that prosecutors had requested a further $100,000 bond.
Vulgamore could be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined $50,000 for each offense if found guilty.
