Latest Arson Headlines
All the headlines from our Arson Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Fire That Destroyed Historic Georgia Home Found to Be Arson
Jul 3 2024 // DARIEN, Ga. (AP) — A man has been charged with starting a fire that destroyed a nearly century-old home on the site of a coastal Georgia rice plantation that’s associated with the largest slave auction in U.S....
Former Florida Fire Captain Charged With Padding Living Expenses on Citizens Claim
Jun 12 2024 // A retired south Florida fire captain has been arrested for insurance fraud, charged with vastly overstating the number of nights he was forced to stay in a resort hotel while his home was under repair. Florida’s...
Student from China Sentenced in Arson of Alabama Church in 2021
Apr 1 2024 // MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A 30-year-old woman in the U.S. on a student visa has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for setting fire to First Baptist Church in Montgomery in 2021, federal prosecutors said...
Tesla Arson Case Shows Need to Protect Power Grid, Says German Utility Westenergie
Mar 12 2024 // German policymakers should team up with power grid operators to improve the response to incidents such as the arson attack near Tesla’s gigafactory, said the head of regional utility Westenergie. Security measures...
Texas Man Convicted of Arson in Historic Courthouse Fire
Feb 2 2024 // A Texas man was found guilty this week of starting fires at the historic Mason County Courthouse and an occupied residential structure on February 4, 2021. A McCulloch County jury this week found Nicholas Miller guilty of...
Illinois Man Pleads Guilty to Arson and Insurance Fraud Scheme
Jan 23 2024 // An Illinois man admitted guilt in federal court last week for his involvement in a scheme to commit arson on residential properties and collect fraudulent insurance benefits. Rufis A. Jefferson, 47, of Venice, Illinois,...
Guards to Monitor Businessman’s Sites Under California Freeway Where Arson Occurred
Jan 9 2024 // More than a month after an arson fire at a storage yard damaged a key Los Angeles freeway, the state has hired security guards to watch out for smoke and other trouble at three additional sites beneath Interstate 10 that...
Murder, Arson Charges on Hold in Killing of Former Mississippi Legislator
Nov 28 2023 // JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi prosecutors have dismissed indictments against a man in the shooting death of a former state lawmaker and the earlier burning of a building, saying they need more time to...
Investigators Found Fire And Safety Hazards on Land Under Los Angeles Before Arson Fire
Nov 20 2023 // State investigators repeatedly identified fire and safety hazards at a leased storage space under an elevated Los Angeles freeway before it burned in an arson fire, documents show. The Nov. 11 blaze, fed by flammable...
Fire That Indefinitely Closed Vital Los Angeles Freeway Called Arson
Nov 15 2023 // Arson was the cause of a massive weekend fire that charred and indefinitely closed a vital section of a Los Angeles freeway, causing major traffic headaches for hundreds of thousands of commuters, California authorities...
Man Charged With Arson for New York Race Track Fire That Killed Dozens of Horses
Nov 15 2023 // Authorities are investigating the deaths of more than two dozen racehorses in a barn fire at an upstate New York track that they believe was deliberately set. The horses were killed early Thursday after the barn where they...
2 Arrested After Atlanta Apartment Fire Linked to Fireworks Displaces 100+
Nov 14 2023 // ATLANTA (AP) — Two people have been arrested in connection with a fire that damaged an Atlanta apartment complex and led to more than a hundred evacuations. Atlanta news outlets reported that the fire happened Friday...
New Jersey Man Charged With Arson and Insurance Fraud Tied to Home Fire
Nov 7 2023 // A former Camden County, New Jersey man has been indicted on charges including arson and insurance fraud relating to a fire that caused significant damage to a house in Cherry Hill in 2018. Attorney General Matthew J....
Georgia Condo Association Leaders Charged with Taking Insurance Proceeds After Fire
Nov 6 2023 // Police in South Fulton, Georgia, have charged the president and treasurer of a large condominium association with stealing more than $1.5 million in insurance payouts after two fires in 2020 destroyed a building. Multiple...
Fire That Killed Memphis Firefighter Was Arson, Fire Department Says
Jul 27 2023 // Authorities searched on Thursday for the person who set a fire that killed a Memphis firefighter and sent three others to the hospital. The Memphis Fire Department said arson was to blame for a fire late Tuesday that...
Texas Man Charged With Arson in 2018 Fire That Killed 5, Displaced 200 Others
Jul 7 2023 // SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) – Officials in San Marcos, Texas, have named the man charged with intentionally starting a fire five years ago which killed five people and displaced 200 others. Jacobe De Leon O Shea Ferguson, of...
Atlanta Police Motorcycles Burned in Arson Attack
Jul 3 2023 // Atlanta Police Department motorcycles were damaged in an intentional fire caused by devices set inside a training facility early Saturday, officials said. The Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department responded to reports of a...
Man Arrested on Suspicion of Starting California Fire That Burned 100 Homes
Jun 19 2023 // A 71-year-old man was arrested Friday on suspicion of starting a forest fire that destroyed more than 100 homes last year near Yosemite National Park, California fire authorities said. Edward Fredrick Wackerman, of...
Man Arrested for Setting Fire in Lobby of Indiana Jail
Jun 14 2023 // CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) – A 26-year-old man has been arrested and charged with arson for walking into a northwestern Indiana jail, pouring an accelerant on the floor and starting a small fire, a sheriff said. The man...
Indiana Man Charged With Arson in Fire That Destroyed Century-Old Building
May 22 2023 // EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) – A southwestern Indiana man allegedly set a fire that gutted a building more than 100 years old that was listed decades ago on the National Register of Historic Places, police said. Charles...
