Fire Investigator Testifies In Arson Trial

  Testimony continued this morning in the case of a man accused of burning down his salvage business.

As of this afternoon, the jury continued to hear from the day’s first witness. WKVI reporters at the scene say the witness is Larry Cooper, a contract fire investigator hired by James Campbell’s insurance company. Campbell is the owner of C&C Salvage, and is on trial for arson charges.
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Additional Witnesses Testifying in C&C Salvage Arson Trial

 The trial of a man accused of setting C&C Salvage on fire around this time last year continued Wednesday morning.

The businesses’ bookeeper and Office Manager Jose’ Delgado has been testifying since this morning. According to WKVI reporters at the scene, Delgado said in court that business had slowed down, even posting a loss in 2013. Delgado was briefly considered a suspect in the investigation according to previous reports.
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Teen Charged with Arson

Dakota Roush
Dakota Roush

A  house fire in Knox on Thursday turned out to be the act of arson and a suspect is in custody.

Firefighters from the Knox-Center Township Fire Department were called to a house fire in the 2000 East block of County Road 200 South at 8 p.m. on July 24. When they arrived, the home was fully engulfed in flames.

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Arson Incident Under Investigation in LaPorte

 
 

LaPorte Police are looking for a suspect or suspects responsible for a fire at 505 Maple Ave on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the investigation, the resident told police that a grill and two tires caught fire in the back yard and the tires were reportedly purposely moved to that location and a gasoline container was found nearby. The container had been on the front porch and moved to the area where the fire originated. It is suspected that gasoline was used as an accelerant.

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Investigators Say Knox Fire Deliberately Set

 
 
The fire that destroyed a vacant home on County Road 300 East just south of Binkley Drive last Friday morning was deliberately set, according to fire investigators. The Knox-Center Township Fire Department was dispatched to the scene around 1 a.m. and remained on the scene for about six hours. An investigator from the state fire marshal’s office was called in to determine the cause. Firefighters were called back to the residence around 5 last evening for a rekindle and spent 90 minutes or so there.

Anyone with information the fires is urged to call the state’s arson hotline at 1-800-382-4628. A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information that leads to an arrest or conviction. Callers can remain anonymous.

San Pierre Fire Department Search for Serial Arsonist

 
 
The San Pierre Fire Department is on the hunt for a person intentionally setting fires alongside the road in the San Pierre area for the past four nights.

San Pierre Fire Chief Mike Korous said that beginning Friday night and each night through Tuesday morning, an hour later each time, an unknown person(s) has started a fire on 900 West south of 700 South, 900 West north of 500 South, and on 800 West and 500 South. No homes or other buildings have been threatened by the fires, but a grass and brush fire is started every night on the side of the roads mentioned.

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Vehicle Fires Deemed Arson By State Fire Marshall

The Knox City Police Department and the Knox-Center Township Fire Department were called to a vehicle fire at Carl Manns’ residence at 503 S. Heaton Street late Tuesday night.

When officials arrived on scene, they found two vehicles on fire. After the fires were extinguished, the State Fire Marshal’s Office was notified and an investigator helped process the evidence. The evidence led the investigator and Knox police officers to the conclusion that the fires were acts of arson.

Last week, Knox City Police officers and members of the fire department were called to a suspicious fire outside of a vacant home next to the residence of Carl Manns. A small amount of siding and a shutter were damaged in that incident, but luckily, the neighbors who called in the incident had the fire out before officials arrived on scene.

Detectives are asking that if you have any information about either incident, call the Knox City Police Department at 772-4122.

Two Suspects Arrested on Arson Charges

Ryan Taylor

Kenneth K. Wallace

Two men were arrested Tuesday after they were found to have set a vehicle on fire on the Gurley residence in Monterey.

Police were called after a witness saw a vehicle leaving the scene of a vehicle fire. Police approached the suspect vehicle and found Knox residents 35-year-old Ryan Taylor and 34-year-old Kenneth K. Wallace inside. The officer said that he was investigating a vehicle fire and told Taylor that it was his mother’s 2002 Pontiac Grand Am that was on fire. He said that the vehicle was in town at his grandmother’s house and it had been there for some time and it needed transmission work.

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