JEFFERSON COUNTY — A Jefferson County grand jury returned a bill of indictment Thursday against a 49-year-old Centralia man arrested last month for setting fire to his family’s home on Dix-Irvington Road.

John H. Brown had initially been charged with Class X felony aggravated arson knowing people present for allegedly pouring gasoline around the inside his girlfriend’s residence, setting it ablaze with his family inside, and then fleeing the home on foot.

The family was able to escape the fire without injury, but the home and its contents were destroyed. Brown was ultimately arrested at a Centralia residence after a day-long search for him throughout the area.

He was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Jefferson County Court, but that court setting was rescheduled when prosecutors announced the case would go before a grand jury Thursday morning, with additional charges anticipated.

Brown appeared in court via video from the Jefferson County Jail, where he’s been held since his September 22^nd arrest.

Both prosecution and defense attorneys elected to continue the arraignment on the indictment until November 2, to allow for the review of the new charges handed down by the grand jury.