COTTON VALLEY, La. (AP) -- A fourth Cotton Valley volunteer firefighter has been arrested in connection with what officials now believe was a string of small fires that sent other firefighters running to the scene to put them out.
Cody Cox, 18, was arrested and charged with two counts of simple arson, said Cotton Valley Police Chief Terry Brown.
``We've had a string of recent fires in a period of about six months,'' Brown said.
Until the blaze that damaged a former Masonic lodge off state Highway 160 late Tuesday night, all of the other incidents were grass fires set with just the strike of a match, Brown said.
``The Fire Department did have to be called out to all of the fires,'' he said.
Cox is charged in connection with two of the grass fires and is not believed to be involved in Tuesday's building fire, Brown said.
David Dick, 19, Michael Musgrove, 18, and Vicki Downs, 27, were all arrested and booked into Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center at Doyline Wednesday. Thursday afternoon, Dick and Musgrove remained in jail on a charge of simple arson in lieu of a $20,000 bond. Downs posted a $7,500 bond and was released from jail where she was charged with one count of accessory after the fact, according to jail officials.
Brown said two more counts of simple arson would be added to Dick's charge and Musgrove would be charged with one count of accessory after the fact in connection to the previous grass fires. No other arrests or charges were expected, Brown said.
``I believe that's the end of them right there,'' he said.
State fire marshals are working to determine the exact cause of the building fire, but Fire Chief Michael Pyles said an unknown ``flammable liquid'' was involved in an earlier interview.
Kenneth Dehart, a volunteer firefighter for the past 10 years, said being part of the department makes the incident a bit harder to take.
``It was pretty stupid. It was a crazy thing for them to do and I don't know why in the world they did it,'' he said. ``(We're) pretty important. If we have a fire, we're the only ones that can put it out. It's very disturbing. You're disappointed in them because one of them was a good firefighter and he knew a whole lot.''
Although authorities are still working to determine an official motive behind the fire, T.C. Bloxom, Minden's police and fire chief, said he has a pretty good idea.
``This is not really that unusual,'' he said. ``I've seen it through the years, particularly with the young volunteers who have had very little training and have very little reality of the danger. They will tend to sometimes set fires for excitement ... just to get some action going.''
Information from: The Times
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