Bond was expected to be set today for a former Utica volunteer firefighter accused of setting fires that burned eight structures and two vehicles in Vicksburg and Warren County since 2000, including a Jan. 25 blaze that destroyed five homes and a business at Jackson and Second North streets.

Leroy Evans, 32, 1762 Mississippi 27, was arrested at the Vicksburg Police Department Tuesday after investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office and Vicksburg police questioned him at River Chase Apartments on South Street, reportedly his mother’s residence.

Evans was a volunteer with the Bench Fire Station in Utica “about four or five years ago,” said police Lt. Bobby Stewart.

Evans had fought with his mother in Vicksburg before setting the most recent fire, state fire investigators said.

“This arrest is just the latest example of how the Mississippi State Fire Marshal’s Office and county and local authorities work together to crack down on arson in the state,” read part of a statement from Commissioner of Insurance and State Fire Marshal Mike Chaney. “Our investigators have one of the highest arrest and conviction rates in the country. Our goal is to reduce arson and fire deaths.”

Fire Investigator Leslie Decareaux assisted State Fire Marshal James Jackson and police Investigator Daniel Lewis on the inquiry into the most recent fires authorities say Evans set. A duplex at 1007 Second North St., a vacant house next door at 1005, Lowe & Lowe Grocery at 1001 and two small homes on Jackson Street next to the neighborhood store were gutted by the flames. Three people inside, including Robert Bass, 53, who owned all but one of the structures along with other family members, escaped injury before most of the street corner was burned.

The neighborhood store had been in the family for at least 50 years, family members said.

At late morning, Evans was in Municipal Court awaiting his bond hearing.

Since July 2008, the State Fire Marshal’s Office has investigated 369 incendiary fires resulting in 157 arrests, not including Tuesday’s arrest. Information leading to an arrest and arson conviction of anyone responsible for the willful destruction by fire or explosion of any real or personal property in Mississippi may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000. 

To report a suspected arson, contact the State Fire Marshal’s Office at 601-359-1061,1-888-648-0877 or contact any local sheriff’s office.

Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com