West Virginia State fire Marshal said five former volunteer firefighters in Barboursville are facing arson charges in connection to several cases in Cabell County.
The fire marshal said the fires were set in vacant buildings from Lesage to East Pea Ridge Road over the past year, so the firefighters who set them could then respond to them.
Ian Hockenberry, Travis Bailey and Brett Ray are charged with first degree arson. Charles Peoples and Glenn Harman are charged with second degree arson.
"Shocked and then disappointment because you know in Barboursville we're all family here," Village of Barboursville Mayor, Chris Tatum said.
Tatum said the fire department and the city worked together quickly, immediately suspending all five when they were first named as suspects months ago. "They have an excellent board of directors who dealt with this swiftly and they've been fighting fires and maintaining public safety for the past couple of months without those suspended firefighters," Tatum said.