Arson suspect arrested

Poplar Bluff firefighters battled two arson fires in less than seven hours Saturday night and Sunday morning.

A suspect in the second fire was arrested Sunday, booked into the Butler County jail and is awaiting formal charges.

Walter William Knox, 37, of the 9300 block of Highway C was stopped and questioned by a Poplar Bluff police officer near the fire in the 1100 block of Nooney, according to officials.

Poplar Bluff Fire Chief Ralph Stucker said police stopped the suspect, who responded before being questioned, “I didn’t set the fire.”

Knox was taken to the police station for questioning at that point, and allegedly admitted to starting the fire. Authorities said Knox provided information as to how he set the fire.

Poplar Bluff police forwarded the probable cause affidavit Tuesday to the Butler County Prosecuting Attorney’s office. While they had asked for second-degree arson charges, Stucker believes the charges should be raised to first-degree arson since the second home on Nooney Street was damaged in the same fire.

According to fire department reports, at 5:46 a.m. Sunday, firefighters were called to the 1100 block of Nooney Street, where they found one house was 50% involved and a second home sustained minor damage to the gable, vent and privacy fence. The fire started in the front bedroom of the first home, Stucker said. Firefighters used 60 gallons of water on the second house and 10,000 gallons on the first building.

Stucker explained the aluminum siding and the fence protected the second house or deflected the heat away from the structure.

Unsolved fire

The fire crews had previously responded to a fire at 5:58 p.m. Saturday, at 501 Bearden St.

Stucker said the doors and windows were secured when firefighters arrived, indicating no one had broken into the home.

On the Bearden Street fire “we had three different fire locations. None were connected,” Stucker said. One was in a bedroom, one in a bedroom closet and the third was in a dresser. All three were extinguished.

Firefighters cleared the scene shortly after 11 p.m., after using 2,000 gallons of water.

Stucker called the state fire marshal to investigate the Bearden fire and doesn’t believe the investigator had time to get home before getting his second call. Bearden is an ongoing investigation being conducted by the PBPD and the fire marshal.

While the state fire marshal will assist a Poplar Bluff Police Department detective in the investigation, Stucker asks for the community’s assistance.

He suggests, “anything you see out of the place, hear shots fired, anything that doesn’t seem right, report the incident. If everyone is working together, we can get a handle on everything we have going on in town right now.”

Stucker explained, since it was time for a shift change Sunday, he was able to utilize the extra guys coming into work. Calling back shifts depends on the severity of the fire and the safety of the citizens, he said,