A 42-year-old Douglas man was arrested Friday morning after he allegedly set two fires in the city last week, one of which burned a significant portion of woods between the railroad tracks and West Ward Street.
Wednesday night, Douglas firefighters responded to a fire on Willow Street. Work crews had piled up debris on a vacant piece of property and someone had set fire to one of the piles. Firemen noticed Curtis Bailey, 42, of Douglas, standing nearby. They asked him if he saw anything and he replied that two Hispanic men had set the fire. It didn’t take long to get the fire under control and it didn’t do much damage.
Then, around 3 a.m. Friday, firefighters responded to another call, this one in the wooded area on the west side of town near the overpass. This time, the fire spread into the woods and moved dangerously close to nearby homes. The fire blanketed the west side of town with smoke most of Friday morning and smoldered well into the afternoon. Thankfully, fire crews were able to contain the fire and keep it away from the houses. When they arrived, Bailey was again at the scene. Douglas police officers who also responded questioned him and, according to witnesses, he confessed to setting the Friday morning fire and the one on Willow Street. Bailey allegedly set the second fire to stay warm and it spread into the woods.
Bailey was arrested and charged with two counts of reckless conduct. He also had two active probation violation warrants, one from an aggravated assault charge and another from a terroristic threats/acts charge. He was transported to the Coffee County Jail where he remains.