3 Arrested on Arson Charges for Wildfires in Texas

Three Eastland County residents have been charged with five counts of arson and one count of organized criminal activity in connection with a series of West Texas wildfires that destroyed five structures in Eastland and Callahan counties.

The Texas Forest Service said in a statement that Christina Utley, 20, of Ranger, Brian Freeman, 23, and Michael Thomas, 24, both of Cisco, were being held at the Eastland County Jail on bonds totaling $87,500. A jail official said night he did not know whether the three had attorneys.

Forestry officials said the three were initially arrested for fighting and public intoxication but the investigation turned to deliberately set fires after Cisco Police Department found suspicious items in their vehicle.

Forestry officials were still fighting the blazes that had burned at least 270 acres.