by JEN BIUNDO
The Hays County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating two unrelated cases of suspected arson in the Green Pastures neighborhood east of Kyle that were set during the week of spring break.
Kyle Firefighters quenched a blaze that damaged an unoccupied rental house on Country Lane in the early hours of Monday, March 15. And last Thursday, they fought a smaller fire set in a trailer that had been sitting abandoned since a previous arson attack last spring.
Arson has become a relatively frequent occurrence in Green Pastures, a rural but densely-packed trailer park subdivision that is home to some of the poorest residents of Hays County. Typically, the firebugs are teenagers who target abandoned structures for thrills, said Hays County Fire Marshal Mark Chambers, who is investigating the two recent crimes.
There are no immediate suspects in the first arson, which significantly damaged the slab-built rental home that had been vacant for about a month. Firefighters were called out on the blaze just after 4 a.m. and stayed on the scene for about three hours.
The flames destroyed the back room of the house and also got into the attic, said Kyle Fire Chief Glenn Whitaker. Because the electricity had been cut off, officials believe the fire was intentionally set.
“It was pretty much obvious arson,” Whitaker said.
On Thursday afternoon, a group of teenagers are believed to have started a fire in an abandoned trailer on Cresthill Causeway off High Road.
“We have some people of interest in that fire,” Chamber said, noting that the suspects are juveniles.
Kyle Firefighters responded to the emergency page at 1:35 p.m. and were on the scene within four minutes. Firefighters said they found a small fire in the trailer and were able to put out the flames quickly before it spread. The flames scorched a circle in the floor about three or four feet in diameter, Whitaker said.
The blighted trailer had been sitting damaged for about a year, when a previous arson fire burned one end and the underside of the structure.
Small fires are common in the area, and sometimes spread out of control. Last March, Hays County officials arrested a 16-year-old in connection with the blaze that was started in an abandoned A-frame house in Green Pastures and spread quickly to other empty mobile homes.
