WDBJ7 Roanoke News and Weather NRV Lynchburg Danville | New information about Bedford County man accused of arson
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We're learning more about a Bedford County man accused of setting forest fires.
Twenty-one-year-old Michael M. Polland is charged with two felonies. He was arrested February 29 by the Department of Forestry for allegedly setting two fires in the last year.
Officials with the Department of Forestry found a footprint at the scene of a fire on February 28 in the Huddleston area of Bedford County. A team of bloodhounds picked up on a scent from that footprint and led investigators to Polland's home.
Officials say he admitted to setting that fire and another one that happened August 29 in the same area. Todd Kready with the Department of Forestry says locating an arson suspect like this is very rare.
"If you can't get on them quick, usually what happens is they get hydro mined by the fire department trying to put out the fire, which is not their fault," says Kready. "That's what they're there to do is to protect the citizens of the county, but in the same respects we were able to get on it quick."
Polland is in jail Wednesday night. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison for each felony, and a fine of up to $2,500.
Investigators say they're looking at several other suspicious fires that happened near Huddleston in the last year. They say Polland may be responsible for those as well, but right now they don't have any evidence linking him to those fires.
