Guard Charged With Setting Fire at Universal : Studio: He is scheduled to be arraigned on one count of arson. The blaze did as much as $25 million in damage.

A Universal Studios security guard was charged Friday with setting the fire that roared through the studio back lot and caused as much as $25 million in damage to historic sets and equipment.

Michael J. Huston, 40, of Tujunga was being held in Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $300,000 bail. Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

Huston faces one count of arson in the Tuesday night fire that destroyed about 20% of Universal’s exterior sets and damaged parts of its tour attraction. If convicted, Huston could face eight years in prison because damage was in excess of $100,000.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Norm Shapiro said Huston had been assigned to protect antique cars being used in the shooting of the Sylvester Stallone movie “Oscar” on the New York Street set. Sheriff’s arson investigators determined that the fire began behind a building facade on that set.

Huston was hired four weeks ago by Burns International Security Services, which provides security at Universal.

Investigators have said Huston made “strong admissions” about his involvement in starting the fire, and Shapiro said an intensive search at the fire scene also produced evidence.

“The investigation revealed that there was no accidental means,” Shapiro said. “It means it was set by human hand. We feel there is sufficient circumstantial evidence” to charge Huston. “He is the one,” Shapiro declared.

Shapiro declined to comment on what might have been a motive for starting the fire. A source close to the case said arson experts are considering one theory that Huston set the fire in order to quickly report it and win praise as a hero.

Huston’s attorney, Charles R. English, said Friday that he had not reviewed the evidence against his client and expressed anger that he was denied access to Huston for 24 hours after his arrest.

English said sheriff’s deputies twice refused to allow him to visit Huston, telling him that Huston was on “keep away” status in the jail because he was suicidal. English said that action may have infringed on Huston’s rights.

Sheriff’s officials declined to comment on English’s claim Friday. But earlier this week, deputies said that Huston was suicidal and that they had taken appropriate precautions.

English said that when he was allowed to interview Huston Thursday night, he “seemed very distraught, upset. He wanted to know why he couldn’t see his attorney.”

English declined to make a judgment on whether Huston was suicidal. He also refused to comment on statements by Huston’s family that the suspect is mentally disabled because of exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam and a more recent accident in which he suffered an electric shock.

Huston’s mother, Debra Dragusica, said repeated efforts to get psychiatric treatment and disability compensation for her son from the Veterans Administration have been unsuccessful.

On Friday, a Veterans Administration spokesman said only that Huston was a former patient at the VA Medical Center in Sepulveda. He refused to discuss whether Huston was ever granted or rejected for classification as a disabled veteran.