AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- A fire at the historic Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin Monday morning was arson, fire officials said Tuesday.
Austin Fire says its crews responded to the hotel around 7:00 a.m. Monday morning, finding and quickly extinguishing a fire in a 10th floor room.
Fire investigators identified 77-year old William Oliver Nichols as the suspect in connection with the arson. Nichols had spent the last 16 days in the hotel, before setting fire to the room and heading to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to catch a flight.
The investigators were able to track Nichols to a Southwest Airlines flight headed to Houston's Hobby Airport. TSA agents in Houston, along with the Houston Police Department, were able to detain Nichols in Houston on a first-degree felony charge of arson of a habitation.
The charge carries a potential punishment of 5-99 years in prison, and a fine not to exceed $10,000.