A 47-year-old man is behind bars after he admitted to intentionally setting multiple fires in the Silver Springs Preservation Area.
At around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office received a call to assist Marion County Fire Rescue after numerous fires were reported in the Silver Springs Preservation Area near the 2000 block of NE Baseline Road, according to MCSO.
While deputies were heading to the area, the sheriff’s office was informed that two individuals were camping in the woods near the location of the fires. MCSO stated that they were both unharmed.
The MCSO AIR-1 unit responded to provide an aerial view of the active fires. According to the sheriff’s office, a total of eight fires were observed in the Silver Springs Preservation Area on Tuesday morning, and two of them were at least 30 yards in diameter.
As AIR-1 crew members surveyed the fires from the sky, they spotted a male suspect who was lighting additional fires in the area. He was then observed fleeing southbound through the woods.
The suspect was later identified as Jason Satterly.
With assistance from the aerial unit, several MCSO deputies tracked Satterly through the woods. One of the deputies saw Satterly fleeing nearby, and he was detained in handcuffs.
After deputies secured Satterly in a patrol vehicle, they used fire extinguishers to combat one of the eight active fires until firefighters arrived on scene.
Satterly admitted to deputies that he had started the fires. He claimed that he was afraid because “people were chasing him,” according to MCSO.
Satterly was arrested and transported to Marion County Jail, where he is currently being held on a $6,000 bond. He is being charged with malicious burning of land and culpable negligence – exposure to harm.
A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.