Two Butler men were arrested Monday night for attempting to burn a city apartment.

Jason L. Roberts, 27, and Matthew A. Wolfe, 30, were arrested after allegedly trying to set an apartment at 313 W. Jefferson St. on fire early Friday morning.

The two men set the apartment door on fire because the woman who lived there owed Roberts $20, according to the criminal complaints.

Deanna Wilson, who lives with Michael Chute in the apartment, told city police she awoke to a loud thud on her front door about 3:15 a.m.

She then saw an orange glow from the apartment and began to panic. Chute said he ran to the front door and found it to be on fire. He quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the flames.

City police and fire departments responded to the incident.

After questioning residents of the apartment complex, which had 15 occupied units, police went to the A-Plus Sunoco on West Jefferson Street to see if anyone bought a small amount of gasoline that night. The clerk described a man who bought $2 worth of gas about 2:46 a.m.

Later that morning the clerk provided a picture of the man to police.

On Monday, Wilson identified the man in the photograph as Roberts and told police that she “ripped him off for $20” the day before the fire, according to the criminal complaints.

Later on Monday, police went to Roberts’ apartment on Miller Avenue and arrested him.

Roberts admitted to police that he and Wolfe spread gas on the door of Wilson’s apartment and set it on fire, according to the criminal complaints.

When police arrested Wolfe later that day, he initially denied being part of the crime, but eventually admitted to it, police said.

Both men are facing charges of arson, conspiracy and risking catastrophe. They are in the Butler County Prison on $50,000 bail each and have a preliminary hearing Monday in front of District Judge Peter Shaffer.