Cairo fires

CAIRO, Ill. -- One of two men accused of committing arson in and around Cairo had his trial pushed back a month. Richard Pitcher, 18, was supposed to stand trial in Alexander County Court for two arson charges starting Oct. 18, but his case was moved to Nov. 16, according to court records...

CAIRO, Ill. -- A pretrial date has been set for one of the men charged in connection with the January arsons in and near Cairo. David Patrick, 22, of Arlington, Ky., has been scheduled for pretrial at 9 a.m. Sept. 28. Patrick and Richard Scott Pitcher, 18, of Cairo, are accused of setting fires near the Mississippi River levee and in Cairo earlier this year...

CAIRO, Ill. -- A trial date has been set for one man charged in connection with arsons in and near Cairo while the other awaits a preliminary hearing. Alexander County authorities have accused Richard Scott Pitcher, 18, of Cairo, and David Patrick, 22, of Arlington, Ky., of setting January fires on 33rd Street in Cairo and others near the Mississippi River levee. Both face two counts of arson...

CAIRO, Ill. -- Preliminary hearings for two men charged in connection with January arsons in Cairo have been rescheduled for Aug. 3 at 10 a.m. Richard Scott Pitcher, 18, of Cairo, and David Patrick, 22, of Arlington, Ky., appeared before judge Charles Cavaness at the Alexander County courthouse this morning. Both face two counts of arson. The hearings were postponed because neither man's attorney was available to attend the hearing...

So it was rare when law enforcement caught up with Demarquis Gill just days after he set fire to a car and a home at 1863 Big Bend Road in September 2009. The evidence was overwhelming, too, which is even rarer in an arson investigation.

ULLIN, Ill. -- Illinois State Police arrested two men Thursday linked to arson fires in Alexander County, Ill. Richard Scott Pitcher, 18, of Cairo, Ill., and David Patrick, 22, of Arlington, Ky., have both been charged with two counts of arson...

CAIRO, Ill. -- John Meyer is sick of making the phone calls to the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal. He's the fire chief. And his town has been burning to the ground building by building, at least 50 of them since the autumn of 2007. His crew members, some paid and some volunteer, have a big job to protect a city faced with a decades-long economic decline and a rising inventory of vacant buildings. ...

CAIRO, Ill. -- It's July 2008. It's hot. And Charlie Caldwell has been here before. He's seen this before. On Pine Street, all over in Cairo. Fire has ravaged properties all over the city. In its historic district on Commercial Street, some behind the high school on Washington Avenue, others on Cairo's main street...