Thursday March 28th, 2024 6:49AM

Gainesville man charged with three arson fires

GAINESVILLE - An arrest has been made in a triple-arson spree that kept firefighters scrambling along Shallowford Road during the predawn hours of February 26th.

Taken into custody was 21-year-old Zachary Dan Grissom of Gainesville.

According to Gainesville Police Department spokesman Corporal Kevin Holbrook, the first fire was set just after 2AM and involved a vehicle in the Gainesville Walmart parking lot.

As firefighters responded to that incident, Holbrook explained, officials noticed a structure fire a couple of blocks away. Fire crews from Hall County and Gainesville responded to that fire in an older, abandoned residence.

"The house is a total loss," said Holbrook. "Fortunately it was abandoned, there was no one living there, it was vacant, however, many times [in] those types of structures there are vagrants, homeless individuals who do happen to live in those homes. I believe that we're very fortunate it wasn't one of those nights where it was extremely cold, because there very well could have been individuals in that home, and that's the reason this Grissom subject was charged with arson in the first degree."

While fighting that fire officials were notified of a fire in a trash dumpster behind the Chick-fil-A, also on Shallowford Road.

The investigation that led to the arrest of Grissom was a joint effort of the Gainesville Police and Fire Departments as well as Hall County Fire services.

Grissom is charged with Arson First Degree, Second Degree and Third Degree.
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