Hall County deputies say a 31-year-old Clermont man crashed his car into his own home early Saturday, sparked a bedroom fire, then drove himself to a nearby fire station with injuries.
Deputies identified the driver as William Kyle Underwood and reported that after he hit a basement wall, fire crews arrived to find a bedroom with heavy fire damage. No one else inside the Hall County home was hurt, and firefighters were able to knock down the blaze before it spread to neighboring houses.
The driver was identified as a Clermont resident and deputies were called just before 2 a.m., according to the Gainesville Times, which also published a booking photo and additional local details about the response.
Hall County deputies say Underwood told investigators he was high on methamphetamine, and that he backed a 2017 Hyundai Accent into a basement wall twice, causing significant structural damage and leaving a bedroom heavily burned. He was released from the hospital Saturday morning and arrested on a drug-related DUI. Deputies say he posted a 1,300 dollar bond and was released from jail the following day. The Hall County Fire Marshal's Office later ruled the fire was intentionally set and charged Underwood with arson, according to WSB-TV.
Investigators step in
The Hall County Fire Marshal's Office conducts origin-and-cause investigations for residential fires and coordinates evidence gathering with Hall County Fire Rescue and the sheriff’s office. That role is outlined on the county's Fire Marshal page, and the office has handled other suspected incendiary fires this year, including a May blaze that was ruled deliberately set, per the Gainesville Times.
What the arson charge carries
Under Georgia law, arson is a serious felony. Arson in the first degree, which covers knowingly damaging a dwelling or starting a fire under circumstances that could endanger human life, can carry penalties that include imprisonment and fines. The statute allows punishments of one to 20 years in prison and fines up to 50,000 dollars in some cases, according to the Georgia Code.
The case remains under investigation by the Hall County Fire Marshal's Office and the Hall County Sheriff's Office, and prosecutors will decide the next steps on the criminal calendar. This story will be updated as new court filings and public records are released.
