Two mobile homes destroyed by fire in Chocowinity Saturday

Fires at two abandoned mobile homes in Beaufort County on Saturday night are being investigated as arson.

The Chocowinity Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fires on the 500 block of Pollard Road about 6:30 p.m. The mobile homes, which are next to each other, were destroyed.

Fire Chief Tommy Pendley said the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office has taken over the investigation of the fires, according to media reports.

The fires came several weeks after a series of arsons occurred in the county in February and March.

On March 10, Todd Austin Jarvis, 26, of Elliott Road, Bath, was charged with six counts of burning certain buildings and four counts of felony breaking and entering. The charges stem from three fires on Union Church Road and a fire on U.S. Highway 264 reported the night of Feb. 22; a fire at the Long Acre Community Building on N.C. Highway 32 on March 3; a fire on N.C. Highway 99 in the Pungo community on March 6, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

Suspicious fires continued after Jarvis’ arrest.

A fire the night of March 13 and two fires the morning of March 14 were believed to be related, according to the sheriff’s office.

Following a fire in an abandoned camper trailer on Robersonville Road, Washington, on Feb. 19, two teenagers were arrested. The arrests came March 23.

Sheriff’s office Investigator Rob Voliva obtained a warrant charging Fortino Ramirez Garcia, 16, of Hudson Drive, Washington, with one count of felony breaking and entering and one count of burning personal property. Garcia was  held in the Beaufort County Detention Center under a $2,000 secured bond.

A juvenile was charged by a juvenile petition with the same offenses for his involvement in the fire, according to the sheriff’s office.