Authorities are working an arson case like no other seen in the Berkeley County town of Cross. The crime scene is contained in a two-mile stretch of Highway 6. The fires happened between March 17 and April 17.

 

The South Carolina Forestry Commission has responded to 19 fires in that one month period, but the total number of suspicious fires is much higher. Kip Terry, an investigator with the Forestry Commission, said the local volunteer fire department has responded to additional roadside fires that did not require the agency’s assistance.  

 

The clues point to one or two people who strike in broad daylight. 

 

“When these fires are being set, it’s between 12 pm and 5 pm,” Terry said. 

 

Terry believes the fires are started by someone who tosses an incendiary device out of a vehicle window. 

 

Gray Vallentine, a fire management supervisor with the South Carolina Forestry Commission, said the culprit is not setting just one fire one day and then another a day later. Instead three or four fires have sparked in different places along the highway, forcing fire crews to handle multiple emergencies at one time. 

 

The fires have not damaged any homes or buildings and no one has died, however, investigators say the potential for tragedy is always a possibility. 

 

“They may not be trying to cause damage, but eventually it's going to catch up with them. A fire is going to get out of hand. It's going to burn some houses down, injure someone, maybe even kill someone," Vallentine warned.

 

The Forestry Commission is working with multiple agencies to catch the person burning the tree line along the town’s busy highway. There are arson signs posted at several of the sites that still bear the blackened marks of a forest fire. Terry said arson cases are difficult to solve, but he is hopeful an arrest will be made within six months. He believes it is only a matter of time before the arsonist strikes again.   

 

There is a toll-free hotline to report arson. If a person’s tip leads to an arrest and conviction, the tipster could earn a substantial reward. The South Carolina Arson Hotline is 1-800-92-ARSON.