SALEM — After spending more than two years in the state mental hospital, a man accused of setting fires inside a crowded Salem church is ready to face charges of arson, assault and attempted murder.

Daniel Chan, 55, was arraigned Oct. 27, 2006, but soon moved to the Oregon State Hospital after injuring himself twice in jail, according to court documents. At the time, Marion County Circuit Judge Terry Leggert determined Chan was unfit to proceed.

Four times since then, state hospital officials ruled that Chan was unable to assist in his defense. Last month, however, examiners determined Chan had improved enough to help his attorney.

“I am comfortable with going forward,” Chan’s attorney, Olcott Thompson, told Marion County Judge Joseph V. Ochoa at a hearing Tuesday.

Chan is accused of starting the fires during a Wednesday evening worship service. Chan allegedly threatened a taxi driver with a knife before rushing into the church with a gas can and igniting fires until he was tackled.

Witnesses described Chan as shouting incoherently as he spread the flames that burned several people and caused hundreds to evacuate.

Chan drowned his 5-year-old daughter in 1989 and was found guilty by reason of insanity. He testified he heard sirens that compelled him to kill, according to archived news reports.

Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Chan was committed to the state hospital until he was released in 1996. Chan was living in the Salem area under supervision of the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board right up until the night of the incident at Peoples Church in northeast Salem.

Sam Miller, an associate pastor at the church, said the damage has been repaired and the people injured that night still attend. “They have physically healed and they’re doing fine,” he said.