Suspect sought in hay bale fires

By Janelle Stecklein
Journal Staff

January 18, 2008 12:47 pm

— Hunt County may have a serial hay bale arsonist.
Since the beginning of January, about 238 giant bales of hay across Hunt County have apparently been lit on fire.
Most recently, 38 bales burst into flames Jan. 11 in a pasture on County Road 2404 near Caddo Mills.
“We lost 38 bales there in a locked pasture,” said Hunt County Fire Marshal Richard Hill, noting that the volunteer fire department had to cut the lock to get to the fire.
“There wasn’t any lightning, and somebody set the hay on fire,” he said.
And this wasn’t the first time bales of hay had burst into flames.
Hill reported in early January that someone had apparently lit about 200 bales of hays on fire at four different locations on Farm-to-Market Road 513.
Hill said he does not currently have any suspects, and said he is not sure if the hay bale incidents are related, though he said the circumstances behind the fires are similar.
“Everything is similar in nature,” he said. “The times coincide. Everything was burned.”
In all of the incidents, the bales were lit on fire between 3 and 4 a.m., Hill said.
Anyone with any information about the fires is asked to contact the Hunt County Fire Marshal’s Office at 903-408-4246.