Firefighters were kept busy after four arson fires in Warren County

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Firefighters were kept busy for several hours Tuesday morning after, officials say, a person set several buildings on fire.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office is now working a rash of arson fires in southern Warren County.

Three of the fires were within a half mile of one another on Richpond Road in Woodburn’s fire district. The fourth fire was about three miles away on Warrior Lane in the Plano Fire District.

Woodburn Fire Chief Bob Skipper was angry to find out someone set these fires intentionally and says the arsonist could hurt someone.

Skipper says fighting several fires at the same time is hard for volunteer fire departments to handle.

“Arson, especially what’s been happening around here with lately with multiple fires set at the same time, it really taxes are resources. We have a good crew to come out and work one fire but if we have a second fire, if it’s of any size, then it really stretches us and we have to call in help from other departments which then leaves other parts of the county without help,” said Skipper.

Two fires, a barn and a shed, were destroyed, both were on the same abandoned property.

The third fire was inside of another barn, but Sheriff Brett Hightower passed it on the way to the first two fires and put it out on his own, containing the fire to a trailer inside.

“On the way to response to one of the fires, I observed, actually, another small fire that had been started in a structure of a barn and so I was able to retrieve some water and put that out before it gained any momentum. But very unfortunate and appears that all of these were probably set within probably about 45 minutes of one another,” said Hightower.

An accelerant was found all over the trailer, according to Warren County Sheriff Brett Hightower.

The owner of the barn said he had a jug of hydraulic fluid in the barn beside the trailer and it was missing, saying that is possibly what was used.

Samuel Harrell lives directly between the first two fires and said his dog got spooked when the fires began and he went outside to check out what was going on.

“It’s getting a little hairy out there. Where is this going to happen next? It’s a concern. We have children here, you know. This is our home. It’s a very rural community. It’s a very quiet, very safe community, so for something like this to happen is quite out of the ordinary,” said Harrell.

It appears the suspected arsonist went to a fourth location, a home under construction a few miles up the road.

According to officials, the arsonist entered the home, poured an accelerant onto the carpets in a closet, and set the closet on fire.

The fire was put out, but still there was several thousand dollars’ worth of damage.

Investigators note there was a break-in a nearby tree trimming business on Richpond road.   Four large jugs of hydraulic fluid, two shovels and a diesel gas can were taken.

There is an abandoned home on the property with suspicious tire tracks nearby as well.

A deputy dusted for fingerprints at the business.

The break ins and fires have not officially been linked together, but there are suspicions.

Just six days ago, arson was suspected in fires that burned two barns to the ground just four miles away from Tuesday’s fires.