An Oakdale man has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to three vacant houses and several pieces of heavy equipment at a local business earlier this month.

Michael Joseph Laird, 33, was booked into the Allen Parish Jail on Tuesday on four counts of simple arson and one count of manufacture and possession of delayed action incendiary devices.

In the early morning hours of May 3, the Oakdale Fire Department responded to two separate house fire calls within minutes of each other during the early morning hours of May 3. The first fire was reported in the 400 block of West Sixth Avenue with the second fire being reported in the 200 block of West Seventh Avenue, according to Ashley Rodrigue, Public Affairs Director, State Fire Marshal’s office.

While fire crews were arriving to the scenes, a third house fire was reported in the 700 block of Matthews Street.

All three structures were vacant houses, Rodrigue said.

An investigation revealed the fires were connected and intentionally set.

A fourth fire was reported in the early morning hours of May 6 at a business located in the 200 block of U.S. 165. When firefighters arrived, they found a tractor and a lawnmower on fire. A rough terrain vehicle parked near the burning equipment was also damaged.

Oakdale police officers encountered Laird with suspicious materials in the parking lot of a business early Tuesday morning and detained him for questioning.

During an interview with State Fire Marshal deputies and Oakdale police, Laird admitted his role in all four fires and was arrested.