Fire investigators who sifted through the remains of a burned-out mobile home in Cleveland on Tuesday now believe the fire in which Thomas Franklin Chastain died was arson.
Specific details of the investigation being conducted by the Cleveland Fire Department, the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office, and Bomb and Arson Investigators from the State Fire Marshall’s Office, cannot be disclosed at this time, officials said.
Sheriff Dan Gilley has joined the State Fire Marshall’s Office in posting a reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for setting the fire. Each agency has offered up to $1,500 for a total reward of $3,000. Under state guidelines, the amount of reward will be based on the value of the information in solving the crime and will be paid after a conviction in court.
Mr. Chastain’s body was found by firefighters near the west end of the mobile home shortly after the blaze was extinguished.
The entire criminal investigations division has been mobilized by Sheriff Gilley to pursue any and all leads that are developed during the investigation, it was stated.
Evidence collected from the home on Tuesday is currently being analyzed at a state laboratory.
Anyone with information about the fire at 280 Lowery St. should call the State Arson Hotline, at 1-800-762-3017, to be eligible for a reward.