MACON, Ga. — A man's "reckless conduct" caused the catastrophic fire that destroyed at least three historic homes in downtown Macon this weekend, according to Bibb County Fire Department investigator Lt. Kyle Murray.
Derrick Bell of Macon was arrested on Sunday for obstructing officers and public intoxication.
But now, Murray says he's also been charged with six counts of criminal damage to property for allegedly starting the Sunday morning fire. Three homes were burnt almost completely to the ground, but it also left others seriously damaged.
Neighbors told 13WMAZ that they saw Bell on a porch on Walnut Street at around 1:30 a.m. where he was setting a fire. At that time, however, Murray said that the fire was contained.
Then, at around 6 a.m., a call came into the fire department and, after several hours fighting the blaze, the fire department got the spread under control.
On top of his public intoxication charges, he was also arrested Sunday morning on one count of willful obstruction a firefighter and one count of obstructing a law enforcement officer.
The fire department originally said on Sunday that they couldn't interview Bell because he was still too drunk.
Murray did not say what Bell did to allegedly start the fire, but they don't believe he meant to burn down the homes.
The Bibb County Sheriff's Office says that Bell was arrested at 6 a.m. for obstructing fire responders trying to fight the blaze. They confirmed that Bell had been charged, and they'll send an incident report when they become available.
Nobody was seriously hurt by the fire, but it left a number of residents displaced.
They are currently working to raise money. You can find GoFundMe pages for two of the people affected here and here.