O'FALLON, MO • An O'Fallon man was charged with second-degree arson today after police said he was under stress and burned down his own home while his children were at school and his wife out of town.

Timothy J. Copeland, 52, of the 600 block of Castlebrook Drive, was home alone at about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday when he began breaking up items in his home before setting pictures on fire while they sat on the kitchen island, court documents say.

He poured gasoline around the kitchen floor using a plastic gas can and then placed the can on the floor, authorities said in the documents. He then left the home in his vehicle.

Three family dogs managed to escape through a window that had broken during the blaze. The couple's two children, a son in middle school and a daughter in high school, were in school at the time.

It took firefighters from three departments about an hour to battle the blaze, and flames were shooting through the roof upon their arrival.

Court documents say Copeland told police that he is "under a lot of stress from daily life." Officials couldn't reach him for several hours after the fire and at no time did he call firefighters for help after the fire was set, court documents say.

A lighter and a gas can used to set the fire were seized as evidence.

Copeland and his wife are still listed on the home mortgage loan as owing a "substantial amount" of money on the atrium ranch home, which was built in 1999 and sold for $251,973.

Prosecuting attorney Jack Banas said he was not aware that Copeland had lost his job.

"It appears like it was just one of those reactions — the person got overstressed," Banas said. "According to what he told police, he just lost it."

Copeland was being held on a $50,000 cash-only bail. Court documents noted that by setting fire to the house, he put firefighters and his neighbors "at grave risk of injury."