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SALT LAKE CITY -- A Salt Lake City man is on his way to jail, accused of trying to light his wife and house on fire.
Police say Christian Allen was in the process of assaulting his wife and children at their home near 100 East and Hampton Avenue Saturday afternoon, when he poured gasoline on his wife and attempted to light her on fire.
Allen's wife and children escaped the home before Allen could follow through with his plan. He did, however, succeed in setting the house on fire.
"The whole house and the inside was just fire, and smoking really bad," said neighbor Ben Pool.
Firefighters quickly put out the blaze, containing it to just one room. However, the home had considerable smoke damage -- totaling roughly $40,000.
Allen's wife and children did sustain injuries from the assault, but they did not need to be transported to a hospital.
Allen sustained second-degree burns during the fire. He was transported to University Hospital's burn center for treatment.
Police say Allen will be booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on charges of aggravated arson sometime Saturday night.
