A 35-year-old man accused of starting several fires in Portland last month told police he set the fires to “close a portal and protect people,” according to court documents.
Aubrey Edwards faces more than a dozen felony counts of arson and three misdemeanor counts of reckless burning. Police believe he started several blazes in North and Northeast Portland on July 20 and July 27.
Edwards told a police detective that he “goes where he wants and lights fires without a plan,” a probable cause affidavit stated. He referred to the blazes as “ceremonial burning” and admitted to setting several of them, the affidavit alleges…