PHOTO: Jayson Cary
Two area men stand accused of setting multiple fires on federal lands in Stone County for nearly two years. Forty-one-year-old Jayson Cary of Leslie and 47-year-old Paul Branscum of Fox each face four felony counts of unlawful burning.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Fox Fire Chief Dave Smith contacted an Arkansas Department of Agriculture agent March 10 and said he was informed by a local resident of fire being set close to the bridge at Meadow Creek. The agent traveled to the area and observed a freshly-burned area.
The agent states he’s received several complaints from the Fox Fire Department alleging Cary had been involved in numerous woodland fires over the last two years. Surveillance cameras were set up in the area, and the agent obtained photos capturing an individual getting into the passenger side of a vehicle with a small fire behind him. The agent had suspected the individual to be Cary.