The Redding Fire Prevention Bureau arrested a 30-year-old man on Tuesday after he reportedly set fire to a wall inside a recovery center in town—more than once.
Officials with the Redding Fire Department (RFD) said their firefighters were dispatched to the Empire Recovery Center on Nov. 22 and Nov. 28 regarding the smell of smoke inside the structure. During both incidents, the RFD said their firefighters spend over an hour searching for the source of the smoke smell but were unable to locate it.
The next day, on Nov. 29, a worker inside the center contacted the Redding Fire Prevention Bureau that he had found the source of the smoke. Investigators arrived at the center and confirmed the fires were arson in nature.
Following their investigation, it was determined Christopher Maurice Hooks, 30, had lit two fires in the wall of the room he was staying in—damaging the drywall and stud bank.
Ultimately, Hooks was arrested for two felony counts of arson to an inhabited structure.
The center received roughly $5,000 worth of damages from the fires, according to the RFD.
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