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Man admits setting fire to house
No one hurt as home burns; suspect charged with arson
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A Hall County man called 911 to tell operators he had set his house on fire, and by the time firefighters arrived, it was fully engulfed in flames, officials said. No one was hurt.

No one was inside the 1,000 square-foot house in the 3,500 block of McDougal Road off Gillsville Road when firefighters arrived shortly before midnight Friday night, Hall County Fire Marshal Scott Cagle said. The home was destroyed.

Michael Paul Ledford, 30, told a fire investigator at the scene he set the house on fire, Cagle said. The house was home to Ledford, his wife and two children, but Ledford was the only one home at the time, Cagle said.

Cagle declined to say how the fire was set, citing the ongoing investigation, but said there were "multiple points of origin."

The damage to the house, which Cagle said was owned by Ledford's mother and grandmother, was estimated at $40,000.

Ledford was arrested and is being held at the Hall County Jail on a charge of first degree arson.