Fire forced the evacuation of Ollie’s Outlet on Brainerd Road around 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
The Chattanooga Fire Department responded to the discount store at 5768 Brainerd Road with several fire companies. Fortunately, quick-thinking employees had already extinguished the fire with portable fire extinguishers. No one was injured.
A subsequent investigation by Lt. Henry McElvain with the Fire Investigation Division led to an 11-year-old boy. Lt. McElvain was already making progress on his investigation when the suspect was taken to him by his mother. Lt. McElvain said the mother and her son were in the store shopping when the fire broke out. The two joined the other customers in evacuating the building and then left. They were not gone long when the mother began to suspect that her son might have been involved in starting the fire, so she brought him back to the scene for questioning.
The boy eventually confessed to setting several rolls of carpet on fire, causing about $10,000 in damages.
After Lt. McElvain charged the boy with aggravated arson, Chattanooga police transported the youth to the Juvenile Detention Center. Captain Anthony Moore assisted with the investigation and arrest.