Pennsylvania ? A firefighter accused of setting a pair of small fires in an arson-plagued steel town near Philadelphia initially told police he had not left the house on the night of the blazes, but later said he had been out buying cocaine, an investigator testified Friday at a preliminary hearing.

Robert Tracey Jr., 37, of Coatesville, had been a volunteer firefighter for nearly 25 years before becoming a paid firefighter with the Coatesville Fire Department in February. He was arrested a month later in the two March 20 fires. On Friday, he was ordered to stand trial on arson and related charges in Chester County court.

In interviews with police, Tracey initially said he hadn’t left his house the night of the fires, Trooper John Clifford testified. Later in the interview, Tracey said he had left to buy cocaine a few blocks away, but hadn’t initially wanted to admit that, according to Clifford, a state police fire marshal.