ABILENE, Texas — An update to a story from early Tuesday - an Abilene man has been arrested in connection to a fire that destroyed one home and caused at least $30,000 in damages to another home on Chestnut Street.
At approximately 2:19 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, Abilene Police and Fire departments responded to a call of a house on fire in the 1600 block of Chestnut Street in south Abilene.
The caller said their home was on fire and they were actively attempting to put it out. Crews arrived and learned the fire had originated at a home next to this house and spread to the second home, causing a second alarm.
The home where the fire originated was rented by Jay Hunter Pace, 33, and another man. Witnesses told police Pace was on scene at the time of the fire, but had since left the area.
Police had stopped Pace in the 4500 block of South First Street for a separate incident and questioned him. A fire investigator was also present and when Pace was questioned, he made statements that incriminated him in the fire at his home on Chestnut Street moments earlier.
Pace was arrested and charged with second-degree felony arson. He is currently being held at the Taylor County Jail.
This investigation is ongoing.
