Man suspected of setting 5 overnight fires in Texas
FORT WORTH, Texas — A man was arrested in south Fort Worth early Friday morning on suspicion he set five overnight fires within a one-mile radius, targeting everything from various vehicles, to a dumpster, to a commercial structure, according to the fire department.
The incident is a “rarity,” with a round of apparently intentionally set fires within such a short distance, fire department spokesman Mike Drivdahl acknowledged over the phone. The motive of the suspect, whose name wasn’t released, was unclear as of Friday morning.
Fort Worth firefighters and police officers detained the man around 3:30 a.m. at the last incident, a car fire in the 3600 block of Hemphill Street, Drivdahl said. The five fires, which didn’t result in any injuries, occurred within roughly a mile of the intersection of Hemphill and West Berry streets.
The fire department isn’t releasing the identity of the man at this time, Drivdahl said, and an investigation is underway into the possible case of multiple arson incidents.
“We’re gonna dedicate all the resources necessary to make sure that, if this suspect did set these fires, that we work with the prosecutor’s office and we do everything we can to help them convict them,” Drivdahl said. “We have had a rash of arson fires lately.”
Though the nature of these five fires was slightly unusual, he indicated the fire department is going to proceed with a typical arson investigation, looking at all of the incidents and collecting evidence.
The first fire was a car fire that occurred around 9 p.m. Thursday, Drivdahl said. Then there was a dumpster fire, which he said was the hardest for firefighters to put out because the trash bin was filled with recycled cardboard. Firefighters had to move large cardboard bales and break them down.
Photos from the fire department show firefighters spraying the large stacks of smoldering cardboard spread out in rows in the street.
The third fire of the night was an RV fire, and that was followed by a commercial structure fire at the corner of Biddison and Alice streets, Drivdahl said. He told the Fort Worth StarTelegram he was unsure if the business was vacant or not but noted no one was inside at the time.
At the fifth fire, a car fire, firefighters and police were able to apprehend the suspect. Drivdahl said the department isn’t releasing information on how they identified the man as the suspect and placed him into custody.
But he said the theory officials are working on is that this man set all five of the fires on Thursday night into early Friday morning.