The fires left seven firefighters injured as they battled blaze after blaze.
CAMDEN CITY -- The serial arsonist who "terrorized" the city by setting more than a dozen fires that left seven firefighters injured over the holiday weekend is now in custody, according to authorities.
Camden County Police and city fire officials announced the arrest of Charles E. Ricks Jr., 44, at a press conference Friday afternoon, stating Ricks was responsible for 14 of the 16 fires set in the city over a 48-hour period. Investigators are continuing to work to connect him with the other two arsons.
The majority of the fires consumed abandoned buildings, but the constant, often back-to-back efforts of firefighters to bring the blazes under control caused many to suffer heat and physical exhaustion. One firefighter suffered a burnt hand and dislocated thumb, while another is still recovering from carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation, according to Camden City Fire Chief Michael Harper. All seven have been released after receiving treatment, and one firefighter remains out of work as he recovers.
"It was overtaxing, some of our guys went down because they left one fire and went to the next because that's the kind of drive that they have," said Harper.
Authorities credited the quick apprehension of Ricks -- who has addresses in both Camden City and Philadelphia -- to a combination of old-fashioned detective work canvassing neighborhoods with high-tech tools including facial-recognition software and the creation of a video timeline using the department's "eye in the sky" and local surveillance cameras.
Detectives first obtained a description of Ricks by witnesses near the fires, and then used that description to comb through hundreds of hours of surveillance footage to piece together evidence linking him to the location of the crimes.
Police identified Ricks, who was then apprehended by Det. Keith James when James saw him walking on Federal Street away from the downtown area at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning. He was taken into custody without incident, and following hours of what Camden County Police Captain Richard Verticelli called an extensive interview, Ricks confessed to setting the majority of the blazes. He's believed to have acted alone.
"This was an all-hands on deck investigation, the city of Camden was terrorized over the Independence Day weekend," said Camden County Police Captain Richard Verticelli.
Assistant Chief of Police Orlando Cuevas said detectives worked around the clock, abandoning plans to go home for the holiday weekend, to put a stop to Ricks' crimes.
"[Detectives] worked dilligently performing some of the best detective work I've seen in my 26 years in the police department to bring this to a resolution," said Cuevas.
Ricks has been charged with 13 counts of second-degree aggravated arson in connection with 14 of the 16 arsons, and authorities said the investigation is ongoing.
Ricks remains in Camden County Jail in lieu of $200,000 cash bail.
"A serial arsonist has been removed from the city streets, which renders Camden a safer place," said Verticelli.
CAMDEN: 700 Blk of Mt Vernon, DWELLING, HEAVY FIRE, PHOTOS BY: John Amet pic.twitter.com/8ZK7YpcAPT
-- SouthJerseyFireWire (@SJFireWire) July 2, 2016
.@SJFireWire Here's how the Camden fire looked from the @Phillies game a few minutes ago; looks better now. pic.twitter.com/qHvtsKIwLg
-- Jim MacMillan (@JimMacMillan) July 2, 2016
Michelle Caffrey may be reached at mcaffrey@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShellyCaffrey. Find NJ.com on Facebook.