The Fayetteville Observer
LUMBERTON, N.C. — A firefighter and his brother have been charged with setting fire to trash bins and two abandoned homes, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Julian Chadwick Phillips, 19, of Railroad Road in the Barnesville community, was charged Monday with two counts of burning certain public buildings, four counts of burning uninhabited houses and six counts of conspiracy. His bail was set at $30,000.
Phillips was a fireman with the Sterling Fire Department, said Lt. Charlie Revels, an arson investigator with the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office.
His brother, Kenneth Clay Phillips, 20, of the same address, was charged with three counts of burning certain public buildings, four counts of burning inhabited houses and six counts of conspiracy. His bail was set at $35,000.
Revels said lawmen received a call from the Sterling Fire Department chief about suspicious fires in the Barnesville area. Investigators learned that the same man had reported the fires using a fictitious name.
Revels and SBI Agent Lee Newcomb interviewed Kenneth Phillips. He admitted setting fire to three trash bins in April and two abandoned homes earlier this month, Revels said. He tried to burn the homes twice, Revels said.
Kenneth Phillips told lawmen that his brother, Julian, asked him to set the trash bin fires. Julian Phillips had knowledge of the two house fires on Horse Shoe Road on May 4 and May 7, Revels said.
Damage to the homes was estimated at $120,000. Damage to the trash bins was estimated at $1,750.
Copyright 2009 The Fayette Observer
The Fayette Observer (Fayetteville, North Carolina)