Man Charged With Lighting Recyling Container On Fire At Red Line Station

(STMW) -- Bond was set at $100,000 for a West Side man charged with arson for setting fire to a CTA recycling container earlier this month at a Near North Side subway station.

Ivan Corona-Gutierrez, 19, started the fire at the North/Clybourn Red Line platform at 12:17 a.m. on Jan. 6, according to a statement from Chicago Police.

At a bond hearing Saturday, prosecutors said Corona-Gutierrez lit a green recycling bin on fire by first lighting a single match and then an entire matchbook. He also blew on the flame to make it bigger and used his bag to fan it before getting on a train.

A CTA employee called 911 after noticing the smoke.

The fire caused an estimated $500 worth of damage to the recycling container, prosecutors said. It also damaged a wall in the station and caused a 17-minute train delay.

The Chicago Fire Department extinguished the fire, and no injuries were reported, police said.

Firefighters also had to work to keep smoke from filling the tunnel, prosecutors said.

Corona-Gutierrez, of the 2200 block of South Kildare, is charged with one felony count of arson, police said.

Judge Adam Bourgeois, Jr., issued him a $100,000 individual recognizance bond with electronic monitoring Saturday afternoon.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)