Man Jailed in W.Va. Firefighter Bridge Fatality

Police arrested an Alum Creek man Wednesday night after they said he admitted to setting a tire on fire that a Kanawha County volunteer firefighter was looking for when he fell to his death.

According to a news release issued by the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department, Charles "Darren" Roberts, 37, told detectives that he ignited a cardboard box to catch a tire on fire Saturday night near the Steven Wayne Smith Memorial Bridge in the Alum Creek area. That fire also ignited about 160 railroad ties, large wooden planks that hold tracks together.

By Sunday morning, the Alum Creek Volunteer Fire Department and the Davis Creek Volunteer Fire Department had responded to extinguish the blaze.

Joey King, 61, a Davis Creek Volunteer firefighter, died at about 2 a.m. after falling from the bridge while looking for the tire, police said.

On Monday, police obtained a recorded statement from Roberts' friend, Anna Kirk, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

Kirk and Roberts went to the end of Sproul Road, a known party place, to see if anyone was there, the criminal complaint said. The pair allegedly drank beer there before leaving.

Kirk said that while they were driving back, Roberts asked her to stop so he could urinate. She stopped the truck near a large pile of stacked railroad ties, the complaint states. Kirk told police the next thing she saw were flames shooting out from around the railroad ties.

Roberts said to Kirk that "here in a minute, he would have all of Sproul on fire," according to the criminal complaint.

Roberts was charged with third-degree felony arson and is currently being held in South Central Regional Jail in lieu of a $250,000 cash-only bail.