A fire Saturday morning on County Road 334 is under investigation by Fire Marshal Buddy Preston after finding evidence to support arson on an old barn/storage shed. Fire units from Blanket, Early, and Brownwood responded to the scene and extinguished the fire.
At approximately 10:40am, a Brown County deputy was called to the location because of an arson fire that had occurred. According to the report, the deputy met with the assistant fire marshal, Johnny Bennet who stated that the fire had been called in at 8:40am.
It appeared that someone had opened the locked gate by putting the combination into the lock and Bennet was unsure if any accelerant was used because the arson dog was unavailable at the time, the report states. Bennet also advised that the shed was fully engulfed in flames when the fire department arrived on scene at 8:50am, reported the deputy.
The owner provided a list of people that know the combination of the locks to his properties, none of whom he believed would be a suspect, the report states. A structure described as a shed along with a homemade trailer, a Bobcat welder and some miscellaneous tools were lost in the fire and a Makita chop saw and grinder were missing from the trailer, according to the report.
The deputy walked around the scene of the fire to see if he could find additional evidence and none was found; however, the owner later called and stated that he found a lighter in the vicinity of the fire, the report states. Because of this, Bennet went back out to the fire.
After the fire had cooled, Fire Marshal Buddy Preston was able to take the arson dog Nika to the scene for a perimeter investigation. According to Preston, evidence was found which indicated the use of accelerants. Preston said that he is continuing his investigation.
Photos show fire crews on scene fighting the fire on Saturday morning.
