FREEPORT, Ill. (AP) — Court records show a 20-year-old northern Illinois volunteer firefighter accused of starting five fires tossed lit cigarettes to spark at least two of the blazes.
Kenneth Grabow of Orangeville is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing on arson and criminal damage to property charges. He remained in the Stephenson County Jail on $250,000 bond Wednesday morning.
Stephenson County Public Defender Byron Sloan tells The (Freeport) Journal-Standard (http://bit.ly/1TwnJmt ) that he intends to vigorously defend Grabow in hopes that he’ll receive a fair trial.
Grabow is accused of setting fires at three barns, a shed and an abandoned home between April 14 and 19.
Court records say lit cigarettes ignited fires in the abandoned house and one of the barns.
Each fire caused more than $10,000 in damage.