Inez man charged with arson in West Virginia

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — A Martin County man was arrested March 1 in connection with arson in Williamson, W.Va., where he allegedly set fire to five houses.

Eugene Kitchen, 53, of Inez, is charged with three counts of arson and providing false information to a police officer. He could also face additional charges for the other two structures.

A release issued by the Williamson Fire Department said that firefighters from Williamson, Chattaroy, and the West Virginia Division of forestry battled a conflagration of abandoned structures and a resulting brush fire for several hours on Mulberry and Vinson Streets in Williamson on March 1.

At 2:16 p.m., they were notified of a structure fire near the Mulberry-Vinson Street intersection. Chattaroy Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched as automatic aid.

Upon arrival, an abandoned residential structure, with three abandoned immediate exposures, was found to be heavily involved with fire, the release said.

“Windy conditions pushed the fire to the three exposures and into a wooded mountainside to their rear,” the release said. “The brush fire spread around the mountain and burned a fifth abandoned structure. All five structures were destroyed and one other damaged. There were no injuries.”

Williamson police made an arrest of an arson suspect at the scene, the release said.

The West Virginia Division of Forestry fought to contain the brush fire that had spread well up the mountainside.

Williamson firefighters returned to the scene March 2 to extinguish a rekindle at one structure.

“Many thanks go out to our community for their support,” the release said. “The food, drinks, and other aid kept us in the fight.”

Williamson Police Chief J.C. Dotson was quoted as saying they caught Kitchen on the four-lane next to the water tower headed toward Chattaroy.

Dotson also said Kitchen had spoken to a woman in Williamson about finding a place to live, and she told him to check on the vacant houses across the road.

“He went over there and checked it out, but then left in kind of a hurry and the house started burning,” Dotson said in the Metro News.

The fire jumped from the first house to a second and eventually to all five structures as well as the hillside behind the houses. Two of the houses were unlivable according to Dotson.