IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — An Iredell County man is facing charges related to a Mooresville house fire that investigators say was intentionally set.
Multiple agencies responded to a fire at a home on Indian Springs Drive on Aug. 1. No one was home at the time, but six family pets were killed during the fire. Two firefighters were hurt while battling the fire, officials said. Both first responders are expected to make full recoveries.
Investigators determined the fire was intentionally set and ruled the case as arson.
Detectives learned that a police report was filed at the home two days before the fire. A woman claimed that her boyfriend, 54-year-old Eric Donnelle Cherry, smashed a window at the house during a fight. Deputies who responded to the call allegedly overheard a phone call between Cherry and the victim, where he made threats against her. Cherry was arrested at his home in Mount Ulla for those threats.
On Aug. 7, deputies obtained warrants against Cherry related to the fire. Cherry was charged with second-degree arson, six counts of cruelty to animals and arson or other unlawful burning that results in serious injury to a firefighter or EMT. He was denied bond on those charges and remains in the Iredell County jail.
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