Three arrested in simple arson incident near Turkey Creek

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Three individuals were arrested last week as suspects in multiple grass fires that the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office believes were intentionally set in the Turkey Creek area.
In the affidavit of probable cause it states that on November 19, 2017 an Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Deputy requested services from the LASFM’s investigative division to assist in determining the “origin and cause of several grass fires that occurred near Turkey Creek.”
The area set on fire is described as “woods and vegetation used as hunting land and hunting leases.”
According to the affidavit, “after examination of the fire debris it was determine that the several grass fires were incendiary fires being intentionally set.”
The EPSO learned through the investigation that “six different fires were set.”
According to the affidavit, while at the scene of the fires, the Deputy State Fire Marshal learned that the sheriff’s deputy “had two people in custody for unrelated charges but were possible suspects in setting the fires.”
Those two individuals were 29-year-old Collins King and 35-year-old Christina Mire.
King and Mire were arrested because, according to the affidavit, when the deputy responded to the fires, “he observed a vehicle driving around the area of the fires.” The two people in that vehicle were King and Mire.
In the affidavit it states that the officer “got behind the vehicle and engaged in a traffic stop,” which is when the officer discovered that the “vehicle had a switched plate.”
The officer told the fire marshal that there was also a “firearm inside of the vehicle, along with illegal drugs and paraphernalia.”
After King and Mire were arrested, the affidavit states that “Mire began to tell the deputy that King set the fires.”
Both individuals were later interviewed by a deputy state fire marshal.
According to the affidavit, during the fire marshal’s interview with Mire, “she denied any involvement in setting the fires.”
Mire went on to state that “she went meet King to bring him a spare tire for his truck,” and “at some point when she was with King he told her he set the fires.”
During King’s interview with the fire marshal, he “first denied any involvement in setting the fires,” too.
However, King, later in his interview, stated that he “was with Mire and his buddy,” who was identified as Chris McQuarter.
King told the officers that “all three parties were present when they set one fire,” and that he “saw McQuarter start another fire when they stopped to use the restroom on the side of the road.”
According to the affidavit, “King, Mire, and McQuarter did not own the property and did not have permission from the owner to set fires on that property.”
All three individuals have been arrested for simple arson.