A Kirksey man has been charged in connection with numerous suspicious field fires.
According to the Calloway County Sheriff’s Office, the department investigated numerous field fires in the Kirksey area between October 2022 and July 2023 that were suspicious in nature. The fields, along with large bales of hay, had been ignited intentionally and caused loss of crops to farmers.
There was no harm reported to structures or citizens, but firefighters had to devote hours of fighting those fires, sometimes more than one at a time.
Following a length investigation, the Calloway County Sheriff’s Office arrested and charged 70-year-old John Young of Kirksey with first-degree criminal mischief, eight counts of third-degree criminal mischief and willfully setting fire on land not owned/controlled by self.