Johns admits to starting house fire on Hillside Street

 A Corbin man has admitted to starting a fire that destroyed a home on Hillside Street Friday night.

In an interview with police soon after his arrest, Jimmy P. Johns, Jr., 21, told officers he started the fire at 1003 Hillside Street.

In addition to second degree arson, Johns has been charged with second-degree burglary and second-degree fleeing or evading police.

Corbin Firefighters were called to the scene about 7:50 p.m. and were on the scene within two minutes.

“The guys on duty said they could see it burning from the station,” Chief Barry McDonald said.

McDonald added that the home, which belonged to Earl Karr, was not occupied, but was being used for storage.

An unidentified caller told Corbin dispatchers that he/she had seen two people running from the scene just as the fire became visible. The caller identified one of them as Johns while describing the other as a juvenile with black hair.

While firefighters continued their efforts to extinguish the blaze, Corbin Police patrolled the area in search of Johns and the juvenile.

The juvenile was arrested first.

Officer Tim Baker stated in his arrest report of Johns that the juvenile told police he and Johns had broken into the home and Johns had gone into another room for several minutes before they left.

“The juvenile also reported as they ran off, he looked back and saw the  house was on fire,” Baker stated in the report.

Police found and arrested Johns about 8:45 p.m. at the corner of 5^th and Oak Street.

Johns is being held in the Whitley County Detention Center on a $50,000 cash bond.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Whitley District Court in Corbin.