CCSO investigating suspicious fire at county home

Published 5:13 pm Monday, March 27, 2017

Police are investigating a suspicious fire that damaged a county residence on Friday.

Around 5 p.m. on Friday, volunteer firefighters and officers of the Carter County Sheriff’s Office responded to 3256 Gap Creek Road, Hampton, on a report of a structure fire at the home.

Carter County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Nick Andes said when he arrived on scene firefighters were attempting to extinguish the flames.

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While Andes was conducting traffic control around the incident scene, he said one of the firefighters informed him that Hampton Volunteer Fire Department Chief Johnny Isaacs wanted him to step inside the home. Andes said he then spoke with Isaacs, who told him the fire was suspicious and there was “obvious” evidence inside the home pointing to that conclusion.

“Upon entering the residence, I observed something shoved between the hallway light switch and the wall,” Andes said. “The object appeared to have been burned from the end.”

After seeing the light switch and speaking with Isaacs, Andes contacted CCSO Capt. Rocky Croy with the department’s Criminal Investigations Division and informed him of the situation. CCSO Investigators Penny Garland and Tim Horne were dispatched to the scene.

Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford told the Elizabethton Star on Monday that the State Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the scene to assist his department. The investigation is still ongoing at this time, Lunceford said.