One firefighter died Thursday night while fighting a set fire in downtown Pine Hill. Pine Hill Volunteer Firefighter Johnny McKinley, approximately fifty years of age, died of an apparent heart attack during the fire at a vacant service station on Alabama 5. He was pronounced dead at the hospital in Thomasville. The fire was reported at 7:52 PM.
Subsequent investigation by local authorities and the State Fire Marshals Office revealed the fire had been set in a restroom. Roger Dale Goodman, age twenty, of 241 Morgan Road, Pine Hill is currently being held in the Pine Hill City Jail after confessing he started the fire.
Goodman will be charged with Arson Second Degree later this morning, at which time he will be transferred to the Wilcox County Jail. Other charges may also be filed in this case.