SANDPOINT — A Louisiana man accused of starting a fire at a Sandpoint motel and forcing its evacuation waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

David Holden Irby is scheduled to be arraigned on a count of first-degree arson in 1st District Court on Jan. 4, 2010.

Irby, an 18-year-old from Bastrop, La., has been jailed since the Oct. 7 fire at the Quality Inn on Fifth Avenue. There were no injuries, although there was property damage when Irby allegedly set fire to a paper towel dispenser on an upstairs lavatory.

The proceedings in Irby’s case were briefly suspended while he underwent a mental health evaluation.