Meriwether County Man Charged with Arson

ATLANTA – Shortly before 11:00 P.M. on the evening of July 31, officials with Meriwether County Fire Rescue and the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office responded to a structure fire at 216 Pinewood Dr. in Gay. The 240- square-foot storage building suffered minor damage from a fire that appeared to have been intentionally set on the back exterior.

Neighbors alerted investigators of a male subject who was seen fleeing from the location of the fire to an adjacent residence. He was later identified as Michael Lee Wright, 30, of Gay, and was taken into custody by the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office. A warrant was later taken out against Wright for Arson in the 1st Degree.

“The owners of the building were asleep at the time of the fire, but luckily their home itself was not damaged,” said Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King. “Thanks to the coordination between our office and Meriwether County authorities, we were able to quickly locate and apprehend the individual responsible.”

The Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner’s Office assisted the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office and Meriwether County Fire Rescue with this investigation.

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The mission of the Office of the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner is to protect Georgia families by providing access to vital insurance products and safe buildings through fair regulation that creates economic opportunities for all Georgians.