A former Williams Township firefighter who had also been a part-time Whiteville firefighter has been charged with arson.
Tanner Reed Sykes, 19, of 4756 Gore Trailer Rd., Whiteville, was released on secured bond, charged with four felony counts of setting fire to grasslands and woods, according to warrants and detention center records.
Warrants show that an investigator for the N.C. Forest Service was called to look into four suspicious fires in the Williams Fire District. Sykes is alleged to have set fires on different properties on Dec. 19, Dec. 25, Dec. 26, and Jan. 11. The properties are owned by H.B. Stevenson, John Hardwick, David Ward and John Blosser, according to warrants.
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