Fire investigators arrested a Chattanooga man Friday afternoon in connection with a fire that occurred at his estranged wife's residence July 1.
At 5:38 a.m. that day, the Chattanooga Fire Department responded to a duplex fire at 3111 Dee Dr. An incendiary device had been thrown at the front door, and the flames made their way up an outside wall and into the attic, spokesman Bruce Garner said.
Chattanooga firefighters got the fire out quickly, with the dollar loss estimated at $10,000. No injuries were reported.
After a nearly two-week investigation, Lt. James Whitmire with the Fire Investigation Division charged Jeffrey Walker, 37, with aggravated arson and reckless endangerment.
Lt. Whitmire said Walker was charged with aggravated arson because the apartment next door in the duplex was occupied and lives were endangered.
Walker allegedly set fire to the apartment unit in which his estranged wife resides, though she was away at her mother’s house at the time. Lt. Whitmire said the incident appears to have been the result of a domestic dispute. After being charged, Walker was taken to the county jail for booking.
Captains Craig Haney and Randy Jacks assisted with the investigation.
Walker was also questioned about a fire that occurred a few hours before the fire on Dee Drive. That fire occurred at his mother-in-law’s house on Hemingway Drive. The phone line had been severed and the tires slashed on a car in the driveway. No injuries were reported.
Lt. Whitmire said Walker has not been charged in connection with that fire, but the investigation will continue.