ATLANTA (AP) -- Tips to authorities led to the arrests of three suspects police believe are responsible for 33 suspicious fires since the last week in April that caused $4 million in damages.
The suspects were being questioned Wednesday as a state task force established to investigate the fires met with state Insurance and Fire Commissioner John Oxendine.
The state arson hot line and Forsyth County 911 received tips Tuesday that enabled authorities to give descriptions of the suspects and a vehicle to the 15 metro Atlanta police agencies investigating the fires, Oxendine said.
About 12 hours later, two men were arrested at an upscale subdivision Wednesday morning when Lt. Kevin Wallace, an arson investigator with the Forsyth County Fire Department, responded to a fire at an abandoned house toward the back of the subdivision.
Wallace was on his way to the fire when he saw a truck matching the description of a suspect's vehicle, he said. The truck was parked at the subdivision's clubhouse and Wallace initially thought it was empty because it had tinted windows. When he saw there were two people inside, he called for backup.
``When I saw them, I knew it was them,'' Wallace said. ``We just happened to be at the right place at the right time.''
When the suspects saw Wallace, they fled _ slowly. Wallace tailed them. He said they obeyed every stop sign, they just wouldn't pull over until a Forsyth County sheriff's car cut them off.
The two men in their mid-20s were charged with arson and burglary in connection with an earlier fire _ the one that prompted the arson tip, Wallace said. The two are not yet charged with the Wednesday morning fire, although they are suspects, the lieutenant said.
The initial charges against the men stem from a burglary and arson last week at NITTA Corp. in Suwanee, said Maj. Gene Moss of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department. The company manufactures industrial belting.
Oxendine could not say if the Wednesday morning fire was committed in the same fashion as previous fires.
``It's still premature to say because the scene is still kind of hot,'' he said.
A third arrest came early Wednesday morning when a Hall County man was apprehended based on the same tip, Oxendine said.
The man has been charged with receiving stolen goods, but Oxendine said Wednesday afternoon the man had not yet been charged with arson.
Authorities have not released the names of the suspects, but Oxendine said the three men know each other and had ``business and/or personal relationships with each other.''
Forsyth County authorities have searched the homes of the two men they arrested Wednesday morning. Moss said police recovered a ``considerable amount of property'' that link the men to previous burglaries and fires.
There appears to be no theme to the arsons, as the perpetrators set fires at low-, middle- and high-income establishments. They did not discriminate between commercial and residential buildings, said Glenn Allen, a spokesman for Oxendine.
The fires occurred at homes, warehouses, a construction trailer and a YMCA storage facility, Allen said. None of the buildings were occupied when they were set on fire, Oxendine said.
It's possible the 33 fires aren't all related, Oxendine said, but there are certain elements in each case that lead authorities to believe they're related. The only possible motive Oxendine would divulge is burglary, but he emphasized it is not the exclusive motive.
Moss and Oxendine said they expect more charges in various jurisdictions, including Gwinnett County, Fulton County, Hall County and the city of Alpharetta. District attorneys in those jurisdictions may charge the suspects with acts of terrorism, similar to the charges against Timothy McVeigh after the Oklahoma City bombing, Oxendine said.
Oxendine has announced a $10,000 reward for information in the case as well as the hot line at 1-800-282-5804.
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