SALISBURY- A Virginia firefighter has been arrested in connection with a two-hour arson spree Tuesday night that damaged a car and four buildings in Salisbury.
The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office reports that David Clifton Parks , 30, of Onancock, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, one count of first-degree arson and four counts of second-degree arson and remains in custody at the Wicomico County Detention Center in Salisbury in lieu of $800,000 bond.
Deputy state fire marshals say the first blaze was reported at 9:38 p.m., in the parking lot of the old Salisbury Mall and involved a 1995 Crown Victoria. Damage to the vehicle has been estimated to exceed $2,000. Less than 30 minutes later at 10:05 p.m., fire was reported in the 800 block of East William Street at the Country House and the Sweet Retreat Cafe. The cafe sustained an estimated $21,000 damage while the Country House sustained approximately $150,000.
The last fire in the spree was reported at 11:32 p.m. in the 200 block of Middle Boulevard where fire caused an estimated $25,000 damage to a two-story residential duplex. Two occupants of the second-floor unit discovered the fire and worked to extinguish it with a garden hose prior to the arrival of firefighters. The first-floor unit was unoccupied and under renovation.
Deputy state fire marshals with K-9 assistance from the Worcester County Fire Marshal's Office determined each blaze had been ignited with the use of an ignitable liquid. Physical and forensic evidence also revealed each blaze had been ignited on the exterior of not only the automobile, but also each structure.
At approximately 11:45 p.m., Salisbury Police Department patrol units observed a Lincoln Continental being driven erratically at the intersection of East Main Street and Snow Hill Road. Upon stopping the vehicle, Parks was taken into custody and a one-gallon plastic container containing suspect gasoline was recovered from the back seat area. On approaching the vehicle, Salisbury police officers say they also saw the accused attempt to put something under the front seat that was later determined to be a pack of paper matches.
Deputy state fire marshals were able to locate a witness who was able to identify the suspect and his vehicle at the scene of the Middle Boulevard fire with a large fuel container in his possession. The large fuel container was subsequently recovered by fire marshals.
There were also no injuries in the Salisbury fires.
Although the exact motive for the fires remain under investigation, deputy state fire marshals are working to determine if the suspect may be responsible for other fires on the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia. In Virgina, these fires include a house that was destroyed on Gargatha Landing Road and another fire at the Bloxom Volunteer Fire Company that destroyed the building and the fire company's two ambulances. There were no injuries in either fire.
Parks is a career firefighter with the Norfolk Fire Deparment. He is also a volunteer firefighter for a fire department in Accomack County.
Capt. Garry T. Windley of the Norfolk Fire Department said Parks was hired on Feb. 23, 2004. According to Windley, Parks was assigned to the department's operations division until December, when Parks was charged with drunk driving in Accomack County. Windley said that since his arrest for DUI, Parks was placed on administrative duties pending a trial on the DUI charge. Since his DUI arrest, Parks had been reporting to the department's fire administrative office on a daily basis, Windley said.
According to WTKR in Norfolk, court records indicate that during Park's December arrest, he was not only charged with DUI but also for reckless driving near the scene of a blaze that investigators say was suspicious. Parks was not charged with starting that blaze. He has also not yet been charged with any other suspicious fires in Virginia.
Windley said that while the latest incidents affect communities outside Norfolk's jurisdiction, "the unfortunate circumstances pertain to a person employed by the Norfolk Fire and Rescue."
Windley did not comment on any further action taken against Parks now that he is facing attempted murder and arson charges in Salisbury.
