A Mississippi man has been arrested for setting fires to multiple properties while much of the state remains under a burn ban.
Pike County deputies arrested 27-year-old LaPatrick Alonzo Nimox, Jr., in connection to an arson case that occurred at a property located on the 4000 block of Highway 24 in McComb on Wednesday. Nimox is also a suspect in an incident that occurred in the city of McComb later that morning.
He was charged with second-degree arson and booked into the Pike County Jail.
The alleged arsons took place in a county that is joined by 43 others currently under a burn ban. The burn ban comes as parts of Mississippi have not seen measurable rain in over a month.
Under the ban, outdoor burning of any kind is prohibited in the listed counties. Anyone caught violating the ban can be fined and held responsible for any damages caused by a fire. The Mississippi Fire Commission (MFC) has already activated its Incident Management Team in the event of wildfires.
So far in August, more than 420 wildfires have burned more than 5,000 acres across the state. On Thursday afternoon, a wildfire in Marion County consumed 400 acres of property before being contained by first responders and MFC crews.
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