A 42-year-old Autryville man has been arrested in connection with a slew of arsons dating back to September of 2007.

Durwood Bradley Horne, 42, of 450 Howard Road, Autryville was charged with three counts of first degree arson and three counts of burning personal property after his arrest around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Horne was placed in the Sampson County Detention Center under a $350,000 secured bond by Magistrate G. Hollingsworth.

According to reports from the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office, the arrest came as a result of an ongoing investigation into a series of arson fires that date back to 2006. The Sampson County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the Sampson County Fire Marshal’s Office, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been investigating a series of fires that have occurred on Howard Road during this time period. Although Horne was identified as a suspect as early as 2007, insufficient evidence existed to charge him at the time.

Horne has been charged in connection with arson cases in two mobile home fires set on Sept. 29, 2007 at 544 Howard Road and 467 Howard Road; and two cases from earlier this year: on Jan. 20, for burning an automobile at a residence located at 316 Howard Road; and a Jan. 24 incident on 398 Howard Road for first degree arson and two counts of burning personal property for burning an occupied house and two automobiles.

Sheriff Jimmy Thornton and investigators met with District Attorney Dewey Hudson earlier this week to review new information obtained during the investigation of the fires in 2010. In reviewing the new evidence, in addition to the information identified in 2007, Hudson felt enough probable cause existed to charge Horne.

“Arson fires are traditionally one of the hardest crimes to prove, because evidence is destroyed during the fire,” he said. “I want to commend Sheriff Thornton, his deputies and investigators for making this arrest. Hopefully it will bring some relief to the people, because it really was terror up in that area.”

Thornton said he was pleased with the arrest.

“People up there have been concerned,” he said. “Even those who had not directly suffered from a fire, they still called me expressing their concerns. I am glad to bring about this arrest to calm those fears.”

Although there were no reported injuries, Thornton said that the arsons were all potentially life-threatening incidents.

“The Jan. 24 incident was at a home that had two elderly residents inside of it,” he said. “They literally had to be pulled from the fire. All of the fires happened either late at night or very early in the morning — so it could have been a lot worse, luckily no lives were lost.”

Officials at the department added that Horne is considered a suspect in additional fires that are still under investigation.

Anyone with information on Durwood Horne or any suspicious fires in the Howard Road area is encouraged to contact the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office at 910-592-4141.

According to the North Carolina Department of Corrections, Horne has a list of convictions dating back to October 1999. Those convictions include possession with intent to sell a Schedule IV controlled substance, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and DWI level 2 (all October 1999); and felony breaking and entering and larceny (both in April 2007).