ALMA — A Bacon County man is in jail after being charged with arson in connection with a fire at the Old Alma Hotel.
On January 13, Investigators with the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner’s Office arrested and charged 29-year-old Andrew Jackson Lord on Tuesday with 1 count of Arson in the First Degree.
He is currently in the Bacon County Jail awaiting a bond hearing.
Fire investigators say a fire was intentionally set in an apartment on the second floor of the Old Alma Hotel on Dec. 26.
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Emergency officials quickly responded and contained the damage to only the apartment in which the fire was set. After further investigation, charges were brought against Lord.
“I am very pleased we were able to locate and apprehend this criminal. This was a large building that housed many people at the time the fire was set,” said Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King. “Had the damage spread to adjacent units, many people could have been injured or even killed in this fire. This was an excellent effort by the first responders, as well as the local and state investigators.”
Investigators with the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner’s Office assisted the Alma-Bacon County Fire Department and the Alma-Bacon County Crime Suppression Unit with this investigation. First Degree Arson is a felony punishable by a fine of no more than $50,000 or by a prison term between one and twenty years, or both.
