Neighbors in the Conneaut Lake area are breathing a sigh of relief. They just got word that state police made an arrest, in Thursday's cottage fire.
It was the 5th suspicious fire, in 4 weeks.
And we've learned that the suspect is reportedly a fire fighter.
Friends tell us he's a volunteer fire fighter. But, this Conneaut Lake man is now facing arson charges.
And neighbors hope the arrest puts and end to the rash of fires over the past month.
27 year old Steven Chatley, is charged with arson, in connection with a Thursday morning fire, in a cottage along Reed Avenue in Conneaut Lake.
The fire destroyed the cottage.
As we've been reporting, there have been four other suspicious fires along that same road in recent weeks.
Police aren't saying yet if they think Chatley is responsible for all of them.
But neighbors we caught up with today say they're relieved, and are hoping this arrest can put them at ease.
"That's a relief, hopefully they did catch the person who's responsible." Said Neighbor Drew Rosko. "I don't know why they would do it, but it's a shame. A lot of these homes have been here forever. We try to fix everything up and it just seems somebody was trying to destroy it." Rosko Added.
Chatley was placed in the Crawford county jail.
Friends tell us they're surprised he was charged, as he once fought fires.
They say he was there with them, and watched as the house went up in flames early Thursday morning.
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