Hull man accused of setting multiple houses and a car on fire

EDITORS NOTE: Pike County Sheriff David Greenwood revealed more details about this story on Monday. The update can be found here.

HULL, Ill. (WGEM) - A Hull, Illinois, man was taken into custody Sunday after he set a car and multiple houses on fire, authorities said.

Hull Fire Chief Sam Reed said Sunday afternoon that authorities were still investigating exactly how many fires the man started.

Reed did not name the man, but said he was being held in the Pike County Jail.

Reed said only one house sustained serious damage, which he said belonged to the perpetrator.

Those targeted said the experience has left them rattled.

“This doesn’t happen here,” resident Tammy Hale said. “So am I safe to come home? Am I going to come home and my house is going to be on fire?

Hale said she was grocery shopping when she heard a man was setting fires to homes in her neighborhood.

“The actual cops, they told me they pulled up in the yard and have it on the dash cam of him actually setting my car on fire,” she said. “It’s melted all the way down to the frame. It got the fence a little bit here.”

Reed said the other fires were minor and either burned out on their own or were put out by neighbors or firefighters.

He said an investigation is being conducted by the Illinois State Police, Pike County Sheriff’s Office and the Illinois State Fire Marshall.

None of the investigating agencies have provided any additional information.

Multiple departments helped put out fires including the Hull-Kinderhook Fire Protection District, Payson-Fall Creek Fire Department, Liberty Fire Department, New Canton Fire Department and Barry Fire Department, Reed said.

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