Twenty-year-old Mark Gilliam wanted to be a volunteer firefighter with the West Bradford Fire Co. He had even been issued firefighting gear and attended a few training sessions before his application was denied on Feb. 11.

Today, Gilliam, of 1659 Suzanne Drive, West Chester, (the residence is actually located in West Bradford in the Hidden View development) is in federal prison on charges that he attempted to set fire to the Happy Days Family Bistro on Jan. 26 by starting a fire in the ceiling of the Thorndale restaurant's mens room.

A search at Gilliam's home uncovered a synthetic black powder substitute, Pyrodex, commonly used in making pipe bombs or other illegal explosive devices. Investigators also found a "hobby rocket engine" wrapped in electric and duct tape with matches attached, according to court documents. Such a device can be used to start a firing train in incendiary device to create a delay system to allow an arsonist time to get away prior to the fire being detected.

Gilliam was taken into custody the same day, Feb. 19, that his friend and former classmate, Roger Barlow Jr., of Downingtown, was charged with setting nine fires in Coatesville, including the Fleetwood Street arson that destroyed 15 row homes and displaced 18 families.

Just five hours before the Thorndale restaurant fire was discovered at 4: 22 a.m., a massive incendiary fire raged through 15 row homes on Fleetwood Street forcing 82 people to flee to the street. Meanwhile, Gilliam, according to court documents, was sitting with a friend at a table in the restaurant, admitting he had set the fire in the bathroom. Gilliam even approached one of the investigators and complained of being tired because he had been running with the fires in Coatesville all night. Asked if he were a firefighter, Gilliam pointed to his shirt that had a West Bradford Fire Co. emblem on it and answered yes.

Gilliam later returned to the bathroom and asked a local criminal investigator if you could get fingerprints off of wood. Four hours later Gilliam was seen still sitting at a table by investigators as they prepared to leave.

On Feb. 11 -- the same day Gilliam's application with the West Bradford Fire Co. was rejected -- a person whose identity is not revealed in the arrest warrant picked Gilliam from a photo array as the man he saw standing on the toilet inside the restroom and fumbling around with ceiling tiles. Seven days later, Feb. 18, Gilliam's friend, who had been with him inside the restaurant the night of the fire, told investigators how Gilliam had described to him how he had set the fire by standing on the toilet and putting paper in the ceiling. The friend, identified only as Person Number 2, also said that Gilliam admitted to starting fires "at three houses before the first call came in."

Meanwhile, Barlow was having his own lengthly interview on Feb. 18 with members of the Chester County Arson Task Force. Barlow not only told authorities how Gilliam had related to him how he set the Happy Days fire, he was also incriminating his friend in several Coatesville fires, according to court documents. Barlow told federal investigators that he would pick up Gilliam at his West Bradford home and they would drive together to Coatesville to set fires.

According to Barlow, Gilliam would bring a greenish duffel bag containing a metal can of flammable liquid, rags, and cigarette lighters. Barlow described for federal investigators how Gilliam would wear all black clothing, including a black-hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes. Barlow also admitted his involvement in the fires.

But, after what court documents described as a consensual call placed by Barlow to Gilliam, Barlow retracted some of his earlier statements and denied Gilliam had any involvement in the Coatesville fires.

Gilliam was known to police before the Happy Days fire. In March 2008, Gilliam admitted to Phoenix Police Department in Arizona that he had made acid bottle bombs by mixing muriatic acid with aluminum foil in a closed plastic bottle and placing at least one of the devices on a neighbor's property.

On Feb. 8, 2009, Gilliam led state police on a high-speed starting from the parking lot of the United Sports Training Center on Thorndale-Marshalton Road in West Bradford. The state police officer involved in the chase crashed. An investigation led police to Gilliam who admitted he fled because he was on parole and scared. The 1995 Ford Thunderbird he was driving displayed a stolen license plate.