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June 20, 2008

Youth arrested for arson

Eustace home was set on fire several times

By Travis Kees

EUSTACE — A Eustace teen has been arrested and charged with arson in connection to a series of fires last week in the community.

The 16-year-old suspect is now at a juvenile facility in Palestine.

Area firefighters responded to three calls in the Porter’s Bluff subdivision last weekend. The fires were at the same residence.

The first call came in at 11:44 p.m. on Thursday, and firefighters from the Eustace Volunteer Fire Department, North 19 Fire Rescue and Gun Barrel City VFD responded to the home of David and Sonya Ballard within minutes.

They arrived on the scene to find a small work shed fully engulfed.

Firefighters gained control of the fire and no damage had been done to the house. The work shed was a total loss.

The teen reported seeing two neighborhood youths fleeing from the scene. According to Henderson County Sheriff’s Lt. Pat McWilliams, the teen’s family and the neighbors had exchanged words in the past.

Early Sunday morning, another call was placed to 9-1-1 from the Ballards’ home. This time the north end of the house was on fire.

Fire crews worked until 3 a.m. to extinguish the blaze. Officials with the Henderson County Fire Marshal’s Office arrived shortly after 3 a.m. to begin their investigation.

This time, the teen told authorities he heard a crash, as if someone had thrown something through a window, according to McWilliams.

That night, around 9 p.m., the family — while moving destroyed furniture from the charred house — called 9-1-1 yet again to report that the fire had restarted.

Firefighters from Eustace and North 19 arrived to find the south end of the house in flames. The fire was contained, and crews left the scene shortly after midnight.

Henderson County Deputy Fire Marshal Amy Zamora and investigators from the sheriff’s department began looking into the fires, and shortly after midnight Monday morning, arrested the 16-year-old.

The youth admitted he set the fires at his home, as well as at a neighboring residence, McWilliams said.

The case is still under investigation.

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