Latest Arson Headlines
All the headlines from our Arson Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Arson Suspected in Dorm Fire at Miami University in Ohio
Aug 28 2008 // Officials at Miami University are investigating two fires they say were deliberately set in a dormitory on the Oxford campus. University police say the fires were discovered early Tuesday, August 26 in basement...
Louisiana Ex-Cop, Volunteer Firefighter Pleads Guilty in Arson Case
Aug 15 2008 // A former Amite, La., police officer, who also served as a volunteer firefighter in Roseland, has pleaded guilty to 13 counts of simple arson. District Judge Elizabeth Wolfe sentenced 23-year-old Lee Allen Widas to five...
Police Say Arson at Root of E. Idaho Fires
Aug 1 2008 // Authorities in eastern Idaho say a series of wildfires in recent years, including the largest so far this year, may be the work of arsonists. Power County Sheriff Jim Jeffries says he is now looking for help from the...
Officials Say St. Paul Apartment Fire Was Arson with Intent to Kill
Jul 22 2008 // Authorities say a fire that forced some residents of a St. Paul, Minnesota apartment building to climb or jump to safety was intentionally set. St. Paul Fire Marshall Steve Zaccard says there were no serious injuries in...
Delaware County Suspects 9th Arson at Vacant Property
Jul 16 2008 // Delaware fire investigators say a fire at a vacant home in Sussex County earlier this week was intentionally set, the ninth arson at a vacant home in the area over two months. This Monday’s fire was reported around...
Officials in Georgia Town Investigating Suspected Arson
Jun 10 2008 // Authorities in Woodstock, Ga. say several recent fires in Woodstock were set deliberately. One blaze started June 5 at a neighborhood playground causing about $25,000 in damage to the equipment. Police said a few hours...
Texas Governor’s Mansion Heavily Damaged in Fire; Arson Suspected
Jun 9 2008 // Arson is suspected in a fire that swept through the Texas Governor’s Mansion early on June 8, causing damage that state officials described as “bordering on catastrophic.” The 150-year-old mansion has...
Arson-started Florida Wildfires Fueled by Growth
May 15 2008 // Wildfires that have gutted at least 40 homes along Florida’s Atlantic coast are believed to have been started by arsonists, but they got help from two classic Florida factors: rampant development and a year-round...
Texas Supreme Court Justice’s Wife Re-Indicted on Arson Charges
May 2 2008 // The wife of a Texas Supreme Court justice has been indicted for a second time on charges connected to a fire that destroyed the couple’s suburban Houston home in the summer of 2007. A grand jury indicted Francisca...
Trial Date Set in Indiana Arson Murder Case
Apr 23 2008 // Attorneys have agreed on an October trial date for a man accused of setting a fire that killed his wife and son, even though it’s beyond a deadline set by the Indiana Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals gave the...
Tennessee Officials Investigating Arson Case at Memphis Nightclub
Apr 16 2008 // Authorities say a fire was intentionally set overnight at a Memphis, Tenn. nightclub. Tennessee Highway Patrol officers noticed smoke coming from Club Envy around 2:30 a.m. Monday. Firefighters put out the fire, but not...
Iowa Man Gets 10 Years in Prison for Second-degree Arson
Mar 31 2008 // A Waterloo, Iowa man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for setting his ex-girlfriend’s house on fire. Kelvin Scott was sentenced Wednesday for second-degree arson after a judge refused his request for a new...
Update: Former Housekeeper Charged in Tennessee Dorm Fires
Mar 28 2008 // A former employee of the University of Tennessee is accused of setting two fires at a Knoxville dormitory. The university says Amy Ellis, who was a housekeeper at UT’s Humes Hall, has been charged with aggravated...
4 Georgia Teens Charged in Arson of Vacant Building in Tennessee
Mar 26 2008 // Chattanooga fire investigators arrested four juvenile girls from Georgia on charges of setting fire to a vacant building. A Fire Department statement said no one was injured in the March 20 fire at the former Old Narrow...
Dallas County Assistant DA Honored for Fighting Fraud, Arson
Mar 26 2008 // Kyson Johnson, a special assistant in the specialized crime division of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, has been named Prosecutor of the Year by A Texas Advisory Council on Arson (ATAC). Johnson was...
Four Charged in 1999 Arson Fire at Michigan State University
Mar 24 2008 // More than eight years after a New Year’s Eve fire at Michigan State University, four people have been indicted related to an arson incident federal authorities said was an act of domestic terrorism. The government...
House Fire in Tennessee Ruled Arson
Mar 20 2008 // Authorities investigating a Crossville, Tenn. house fire that killed two people said the fire was caused by arson. Officials won’t discuss the cause of the fire or who they think started the blaze inside Darrell and...
Florida Arson Officials: Polk County Fire Caused $22M in Damages
Mar 18 2008 // Florida officials arrested a Polk County man who allegedly set fire to a manufacturing plant, destroying the building and causing more than $22 million in damages, according to Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex...
Tennessee Officials: Fatal Cumberland Co. Fire was Arson
Mar 17 2008 // Tennessee authorities say arson caused a fatal fire that destroyed a Cumberland County house last week with a couple inside. Wendell Frost, special agent in charge of the Knoxville office of the state bomb and arson squad,...
Tennessee Arson Team to Investigate House Fire that Killed 2
Mar 14 2008 // State arson investigators are looking into a house fire that killed two people in Tennessee’s Cumberland County. The Sheriff’s Department believes the home’s residents, Carol and Darrell Darling, died in...
