100-Year Old Alabama Home Destroyed, 9-Year Old Responsible

Baldwin County authorities said a 9-year-old boy has admitted to setting a fire on New Year’s Eve that destroyed his great-grandmother’s 100-year-old home in Marlow, Ala.

Gib Hixon, chief of the Fish River-Marlow Volunteer Fire Department, said state fire investigators told him the boy confessed to setting the blaze.

Hixon said the information supplied by the child matched evidence found after the fire.

“The spot where he said he started the fire matched where my people said the probable cause of ignition took place,” he told the Press-Register in a story last week.

According to earlier reports, the fire began in the laundry room.

The fire broke out around 11 p.m. on Dec. 31. Hixon said earlier that the two occupants of the house, owner Sara Pierce and a grandson, along with the family dog, all got out without injuries.

He said the original part of the 11/2-story house, which had just undergone a $300,000 renovation, was destroyed.

A newer addition, back porch and carport were the only parts that were saved.

Information from: Press-Register,
http://www.al.com/mobileregister