A FORMER BAYOU LA BATRE, ALABAMA, city councilman was arrested and charged yesterday for attempting to set his own house on fire.
Henry Barnes thought he saw an opportunity on June 23 when a wildfire burned through 4,000 acres of woodland near his neighborhood. Even though the fire was not close to his street and nobody in the block suffered any damages, police believe Barnes set his house on fire in an attempt to make it look like a stray ember had started it.
A police patrol spotted the fire and called the FD who put it out quickly. It had only just started in an exterior wall board and hadn’t extended. So far there has been no disclosure of what Barnes’ motive was.
WALA-TV Ch. 10, Mobile has the complete story on video:
