Belcher Arson

Posted: Fri 11:07 AM, Apr 11, 2003

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Updated: Fri 11:07 AM, Apr 11, 2003

Nearly two years ago, a Coffee County man pled guilty to setting a fire that destroyed several Enterprise businesses.

Now, because of a plea bargain agreement, the six counts against 26-year-old Daniel Belcher have been rolled into a second-degree arson conviction.

Belcher was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $600,000 in fines.

The April 2001 fire happened in a strip mall on Glover Avenue. The entire neighborhood was evacuated.

Officials were concerned about possible hazardous fumes from a pool supply company involved in the fire.

Authorities say Belcher has a long history of mental problems.

wtvynews4.com Extended Web Coverage

Arson Facts

Arson is the second leading cause of death by fire in the United States, exceeded only by losses due to smoking.
Arson is the leading cause of property damage due to fires.
One of every four fires that occur in the U.S. each year, about a half million, are arson.
Each year, more than 90 percent of all civilian deaths in incendiary and suspicious structure fires occur in residential properties.
Direct property damage from arson totals more than $3 billion in a typical year. One out of every four dollars lost to fire is the result of arson.
Only 16 percent of arson offenses lead to arrest, and only two percent of those arrested are convicted.
Preliminary results of a new study by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) suggest that between one-fifth to one-fourth of reported arson cases in major American cities are drug-related.
Arson is the leading cause of fire in houses of worship, accounting for 25 percent of church and related property fires.
53 percent of all arsons are set by youths under age 18.

Source: www.usfa.fema.gov contributed to this report

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