Man charged with setting 65 acre Tennessee fire

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) – Authorities have arrested a man on charges of setting an eastern Tennessee wildfire that burned 65 acres.

The state Department of Agriculture says its Agricultural Crime Unit and Sequatchie County authorities charged 24-year-old Dakota Ashton Tucker of Monteagle with deliberately setting a fire Nov. 14 in Sequatchie County.

Tucker is being held in Grundy County jail and additional charges are pending.

A conviction would carry a sentence of one to six years in jail and up to $3,000 in fines.

More than 1,400 wildfires have burned across Tennessee this year. Officials suspect almost half of them are arson.

Tucker is one of several people charged in setting wildfires in Tennessee recently.