Marion man faces 3 felony charges in arson fires

MARION – A 21-year-old Marion man faces three charges of aggravated arson after he allegedly set fire to his residence on three separate occasions, authorities said.

Cecil R. Hamm III, 209 Bellevue Ave., was in custody in the Multi-County Correctional Center on Wednesday pending a hearing scheduled for Thursday morning in Marion Municipal Court, according to court records.

The charges stem from arson fires that occurred May 4, May 5 and May 20, all in houses in which Hamm was a resident, Marion city fire Capt. Wade Ralph said. No one was injured in the fires, which caused about $16,000 in damage.

“We just felt we can’t let this guy walk around while we get this thing together,” Ralph said, referring to the investigation and paperwork involved in it. He said investigators had “been looking at him for a couple weeks.”

Ralph said Hamm confessed to setting the fires.

The sources of two fires that burned the Chris McGuire residence, where Hamm lived, at 560 Bellefontaine Ave. the afternoon of May 4 and the morning of May 5 initially were suspected to have been electrical. Investigators later learned that Hamm “made it appear to be accidental fires.”

Investigators initially suspected the May 4 fire began when a laptop computer plugged into an outlet in the basement caught fire. They also initially suspected the May 5 fire started due to a short-circuit in a power strip in the attic. That fire spread to a mattress, bedding and bedroom furniture, burning a hole in the roof, according to the fire department.

“The second fire did significant damage,” Ralph said. “He wasn’t going to stop.”

He said six people were in the Bellefontaine Avenue house during both fires. They exited the structure without injury each time. The occupants moved to the Bellevue Avenue house because of the damage in the other home.

Hamm did not use any accelerant to start the fires, igniting “stuff that was around the house,” he said.

A police report states the police department received a report about 4:42 a.m. May 20 that a towel on a counter in the Bellevue Avenue residence was set on fire.

Firefighters were not dispatched to the fire on Bellevue Avenue because McGuire reported the fire was out before they were dispatched, fire Capt. Adam Fetter said.

Ralph said investigators do not believe Hamm is connected to any other arson fires in the city.

jjarvis@marionstar.com

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Twitter: @jmwjarvis