Man arrested in Richmond Hill arson investigation

RICHMOND HILL, Ga. (WSAV) – One man has been arrested in connection to an arson investigation in Richmond Hill.

“When it went, it went good. I mean, it was burning black smoke,” said Donald Daniel, who lives near the house that caught fire Friday.

Thomas Adam Spigner Barrack, 28, was arrested for first-degree arson just days later on Tuesday.

When News 3 spoke to people who live in the area, they said a budding homeless population in the woods behind their homes could be a possible cause.

Some believe homeless people were living in the structure that burned down, which they say has been abandoned for years.

“All of the doors were wide open. The place had been ransacked. The garage door was open. All the stuff was stridden outside, and that’s what I told the police department,” Daniel said.

“We have, over a course of months, seen people hanging around there. We had a suspicion that people were staying in there,” he continued.

Daniel wonders if that could have something to do with the fire.

“There were three of them, three of these homeless people sitting by the door at Dollar General. They were asking, ‘Can you give us something? Our house just burned up, and we lost everything,'” he said.

Richmond Hill police tell News 3 that their officers and Richmond Hill firefighters were on the scene when the fire first happened, but turned the investigation over to the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Fire Safety once they suspected foul play.