LEXINGTON COUNTY -- Officials have arrested a volunteer firefighter in Lexington County for starting fires of his own.
The South Carolina Forestry Commission announced they brought 36-year-old Larry Lucius Williamson Jr. into custody Tuesday.
Williamson is suspected of starting two fires that occurred on May 14 and 15 near the Mack Edisto Road Extension in Lexington County.
Those fires burned around 10 acres including a pine plantation.
Foot prints and tire tracks led law enforcement officials to Williamson, who then confessed to the fires along with several others in the past.
Officials say Williamson tried to throw investigators off the trail by leaving misleading clues behind at the scene. A W-2 tax form with the name of an acquaintance was nailed to a tree. A handwritten note saying, 'I will be back soon' was left at another fire.
Williamson isn't the only firefighter to be arrested this year for arson.
South Carolina Forestry Commission Law Enforcement Chief David West says the alleged crime hurts all fire fighters' public image.
"Firemen get accused for a lot of them which it's not, and really hurts inside when something like this does happen," West explains.
Williamson was a volunteer firefighter for the Lexington County Fire Service for 10 years.
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