LANCASTER, SC (WVLT) – South Carolina officials made an arrest after two fires were caused in an empty house on First Street in Lancaster, South Carolina.
According to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, Quentin Lee Belton, 31, was arrested on April 1 and charged with three counts of arson related to two fires in the empty house. The structure had been empty for some time, with no utilities and boarded-up windows. It is owned by a property management company in Columbia, SC
LCSO, the Lancaster County Fire Department and local department firefighters responded to a fire in the home around 10 pm on December 5. The fire was extinguished and the house had substantial damage to the back wall of the structure.
Authorities said the cause and source of the fire were suspect and started an investigation.
LCSO responded to a fire in the same residence on Wednesday, March 3. Authorities said that when the firefighters arrived, the house was destroyed.
The fire department and sheriff’s office, along with South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division arson investigators, launched an investigation into the second fire.
Belton was a volunteer firefighter for the Gooches Fire Department and closed on Friday.
According to authorities, Belton was found alone in the fire department by another member, just minutes before the call for the second fire.
A search warrant was obtained for the relative’s home on Thursday. Evidence believed to be related to the second fire was found in the house. Authorities said Belton went to the sheriff’s office on Thursday night and was questioned about the fires before he was arrested.
Belton is accused of third-degree arson in the first fire and third-degree arson in the second fire.
He is also charged with second-degree arson for damage caused to the neighbor’s property by the second fire. The bonds are fixed at $ 20,000.
Anyone with information about this or any other case should call the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office at 803-283-3388.
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