CORINTH, Ky. — Kentucky State Police are investigating multiple fires in Grant County. We learned about the investigations just days after two firefighters were charged with second-degree arson after intentionally setting fire to a church, according to arrest documents.
Police arrested Brendan Gibson, of Falmouth, Ky. and Robert Hughes of Williamstown, Ky. on July 8, hours after a fire was reported, according to the KSP arrest document.
The document says the Grant County Sheriff's Office, Corinth Fire, Williamstown Fire and Dry Ridge Fire all responded to the Shiloh Full Gospel Church in Corinth at around 5:50 a.m. Monday morning.
"Shortly after," KSP officers and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were requested, the arrest documents say.
The arrest report says Gibson and Hughes were both among the first firefighters to arrive at the church with the Corinth Fire Department. However, the document said the investigator's findings into the fire suggested Gibson and Hughes started the fire themselves.
Both men were taken to the KSP Dry Ridge post, where they confessed their actions had led to the fire, though the document does not detail what those actions may have been. They were arrested at around 4:25 p.m. Monday.
"That to me was jaw-dropping in a way," said Jason Deitz, lifelong Grant County resident, originally from Corinth. "It's concerning, Corinth has lost a place where their community can gather and can meet up and do things to support each other."
Both Gibson and Hughes are currently being held in the Grant County Detention Center on $10,000 bonds.
According to the City of Corinth website, the Corinth Fire Department is volunteer-staffed.
Pastor Greg Cheeks with the Shiloh Full Gospel Church in Corinth said they are unable to make repairs.
"It's very unfortunate," Cheeks said in a statement to WCPO 9. "We're left at the point where there are no funds to rehab the building. It's horrible."
We confirmed with KSP that there are at least three more fires in Grant County that are under investigation. We found out all of them happened during the overnight hours and all of them happened within the last month.
On June 13, the Williamstown Marina fuel station caught fire. It melted part of the siding of the business that also has an apartment upstairs. On June 28, the vacant former Shupe's Grocery Store, in Corinth, burned to the ground.
"Personally for me, where I went when I was a kid, I lived on Keefer Road, about a mile up it's a place I went, it's a piece of history for me," Deitz said.
Then, the historic Cotton Barn off of Dixie Highway in Dry Ridge was left in shambles on July 6. These caught the attention of the Grant County Chamber of Commerce.
"There's a cost associated with revitalizing or rebuilding those businesses and kind of makes people think well that's kind of somewhere where I don't want to go right or I don't want to relocate my business," said Jamie Baker, executive director of the chamber.
These fires have also caught Williamstown Mayor Mark Christopher's attention, as well as the rest of the city council, while KSP investigates.
"We're trying to figure out if they were arson, or just natural, a lot of the buildings that were caught on fire were vacant," Christopher said.
Meanwhile, Deitz is calling on first responders to lead in helping the community heal.
"Maybe the fire department and the police department can reach out and pull us back together in a way to remind us hey we're a community we're together," said Deitz.
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