May 25, 2013
HINTON, W.Va. (AP) - A Hinton man faces charges of setting a fire that destroyed five apartment buildings in downtown Hinton.
Police chief Derek Snavely tells media outlets that 25-year-old Billy Joe Gill also is a suspect in another fire that occurred about 30 minutes earlier. Gill is charged with first-degree arson.
The first fire broke out around 1:25 a.m. Tuesday in a two-story house. The second fire leveled five apartment buildings known as Brick Row. The buildings contained a total 10 apartments.
No injuries were reported.
Snavely says the owner of the first structure that was torched told police that she and Gill had argued before that fire.
Gill is being held in the Southern Regional Jail on $200,000 bond.
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