Man charged with setting fire to wooded area near his home

A local man has been charged with setting fire to a wooded area not far from his residence.

Gary Michael Jr., 43, of the 1100 block of Northside Road, Elizabeth City, was arrested June 12 and charged with arson, setting fire to wood, lands and fields.

Maj. Aaron Wallio of the Pasquotank Sheriff’s Office said firefighters from the Providence and Newland volunteer fire departments responded to a fire in a wooded area on June 12. As firefighters extinguished the blaze that consumed a quarter of an acre, an investigation began into how it began.

Two witnesses from the 1100 block of Northside Road told Chief Deputy Daniel T. Fogg that Michael had set the fire and that he was wearing green pants and no shirt, Wallio said. Fogg met with Fire Marshal Timothy Chesson and they both walked through the wooded area toward Sawyers Mobile Home Park at 1148 Northside Road where they found Michael. He was wearing green pants and no shirt, a white shirt draped across his shoulder.

After interviewing Michael, Fogg transported him to the Sheriff’s Office where he was charged with setting fire to a wooded area. He was taken before a magistrate who ordered him held for 48 hours because he was already on pretrial release for charges of communicating threats and trespassing. Michael was then transported to Albemarle District Jail.

Wallio said Monday investigators believe Michael set the fire using a lighter and dry natural vegetation. They don’t have a motive as yet for the fire, he said.