Man charged with starting fires at churches, dumpsters

A 45-year-old Dublin man was charged with six counts of first degree arson after allegedly starting fires in five areas around downtown on Monday.

According to Dublin Police Chief Keith Moon, investigators were able to retrieve a photo from a video system at one of the locations and identify and arrest George Christopher Baker, who was taken into custody without incident on Calhoun Street around 11 a.m. Monday.

Moon said the State Fire Marshal’s Investigation Unit is looking into the incidents.

Dublin Fire Chief Matthew Cutler said the first fire location was at the Jefferson Street Baptist Church gym. Firefighters received the call around 3:24 a.m. Monday. 

“One of the rolling cart trash receptacles was rolled up against the side of the church gym and set on fire,” Cutler said. “The gym did have cosmetic damage. It was the only structure to have damage. It smoked the bricks on the outside of the church.” 

The next call came in around 9:44 a.m. for a dumpster fire and debris around the dumpster behind First United Methodist Church.

“At that point, because we had two incidents on church grounds a block or two apart, I went ahead and notified the state fire marshal’s office,” Cutler said. “Thankfully this church had really good cameras.”

First Methodist Church was able to show investigators camera footage of the suspect walking near the church. While Cutler was on his way to the second church, firefighters received another call about a dumpster on fire around 9:59 a.m. at Towns Maytag Appliance.

When he arrived, he saw smoke coming from behind Modern Cleaners. Around 10:05 a.m., a call came in for a fire in a downtown alley beside the old radio station. 

“I found the dumpster on fire,” Cutler said. “While I was waiting on a fire engine to get there to put those fires out, an individual came up to me and reported that there was a fire beside the railroad tracks where the railroad has piled up the crossties in front of the Ice House at 10:09 a.m.”

Cutler was grateful no one was hurt during the fires. Several state fire marshal officials converged in Dublin to begin investigating the cases along with the DPD.

“We appreciate all of the agencies that helped us with these things,” Cutler said.