JONESBORO -- Authorities are investigating three house fires in different parts of the Craighead County city this year that they believe were deliberately set.
Jonesboro Fire Marshal Jason Wills said he does not know if the three are related but added that three suspicious fires within five weeks is rare for Jonesboro.
"It's still early to tell," the fire marshal said. "We're working on it. We do know that we've had a more than usual number of fires set intentionally lately."
Firefighters battled a house fire on Clark Street in east Jonesboro on Friday morning. Witnesses told police that they heard a loud bang and glass breaking, then saw a man run from the house.
Wills said Friday afternoon that he was able to determine the fire was deliberately set at the Clark Street house.
"We spent the day digging [debris] and clearing it to the floor," he said. "I found a distinctive pattern on the floor that indicated an accelerant was used to start the fire."
Wills said he sent some evidence from the house to the state Crime Laboratory on Friday evening.
Firefighters also fought suspicious blazes on Fisher Street on Tuesday and on Drake Street on Jan. 4. Both homes, about a block from each other in north Jonesboro, were vacant at the times of the fires.
"We've been hit back-to-back with suspicious fires," Wills said. "We're working hard on all these fires."
He said police obtained video taken from a security camera at a building near one of the earlier fires and plan to review it.
State Desk on 02/07/2015