A reward of up to $7,500 is being offered for information about a fire that destroyed a Charleston commercial building late last week.
Joseph Frank, supervisory special agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Oxford, said Tuesday that his agency and the State Fire Marshal’s Office are jointly investigating the blaze and sponsoring the reward.
While stopping short of declaring arson to be the cause of the fire at 521 West Main St., Frank said the reward is offered “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for this fire.”
The 6,900-square-foot building, owned by Tallahatchie County Sheriff William Brewer, burned early Thursday afternoon (Sept. 29). It was unoccupied at the time.
Both of Charleston’s pumper trucks and a pumper and tanker from the Spring Hill Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire.
Frank said investigators collected samples from the scene Friday and have submitted them to an out-of-state lab for analysis.
“The investigation is ongoing and we do need the public’s help,” he added.
Frank urged anyone with information about the case to call ATF’s Oxford office at 1-662-513-2140.
Among evidence being sifted by officials is a photo taken by one of the first firefighters on the scene Thursday. The firefighter, who asked to remain anonymous, initially submitted the photo to The Sun-Sentinel, saying the image appears to suggest that the fire was deliberately set by someone piling materials outside a bay door at the rear of the building.
That firefighter has since spoken with investigators, noted Frank, who applauded the first responder’s quick thinking in snapping the picture of the suspicious scene.
Brewer said he had been out of state for several days on business when one of his radio dispatchers called him Thursday afternoon about the fire.
He declined to comment on speculation concerning the cause of the blaze, including an eyewitness account that someone was near the rear of the building just before the fire was reported about 1 p.m.
“I’m just going to wait until all the investigators get through and make a determination as to what happened,” Brewer said Tuesday.
The sheriff, who for several years has operated a produce stand in the front of the building, where he sold fruits and vegetables, said the structure was also recently operating as a general merchandise store.
Its inventory consisted of home furnishings, appliances and many other assorted items, he noted.
“It’d be easier for me to tell you what all I didn’t have in there than what I did,” he noted, explaining that the building was “slap full” of merchandise.
Brewer said he also had plans to start an auction at the site as early as this week.
“We were going to try it a couple of weeks to see how it went,” he added.
Brewer said the building was also being used to warehouse some family and personal items, including some belonging to his children and his late parents. Everything was lost in the fire.
He noted that the commercial aspect of the building was intended to benefit his family.
“I was trying to get that business up and running for my daughters,” Brewer said. “They were going to pretty much run it and they would have gotten any proceeds.”
Brewer said he may decide to build another commercial building at the same location.
IN THE PHOTO: Tallahatchie County Fire Coordinator Richard Taylor trains a water hose on a burning commercial building at 521 W. Main St. in Charleston Thursday afternoon, Sept. 29. The building was destroyed. (Photo by Clay McFerrin)
