GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. — 6/28/24 UPDATE: The story has been updated with more information regarding the charges and the suspect.
A fire engulfed the historic Huston House on Butler Island Wednesday night, causing a "total loss" of the home, officials say, as a Colorado man has been charged in the incident.
The house is on Highway 17 on Butler Island, just south of Darien, Georgia. The property is a former rice plantation, built in the late 1700s.
Kyle Gill, 33, was arrested near the scene. He's been charged with charged with arson, burglary, criminal trespassing, criminal damage to property, interference with government property and theft by taking.
McIntosh County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy George Trexler says "an investigative hold" has been placed on Gill's case because he has a fugitive warrant out of Kentucky for failing to comply with the sex offender registry, police said.
The McIntosh County Sheriff's Office told First Coast News that Wednesday afternoon, the house's alarm system alerted them of the fire, with deputies dispatched around 7 p.m. Witnesses reported seeing a man leaving the residence as smoke engulfed the property.
A deputy who received training at the historic home noted Gill possessed items that came out of the home.
"The Darien Volunteer Fire Department, the McIntosh County Volunteer Fire Department, McIntosh County E.M.S., the Liberty County Fire Department and the Glynn County Fire Department responded to the incident," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "Firemen and women, first responders, law enforcement and others worked diligently throughout the night to extinguish the fire."
The cause of the fire is being investigated by the State Fire Marshal’s Office, according to police.
"We would also like to note that the destruction of this iconic landmark has saddened our local population and visitors to this site from across the nation. While the building is no longer on the horizon, our memories of this history will forever remain," the sheriff's office said in a press release.
Below is a gallery of photos of the fire that show flames and smoke shooting up from the home.
Photos | Fire burning at Butler Island Plantation
