Arson unit a blazing success
With arson costing billions of dollars each year and the threat of terrorism always lurking, the Tennessee Bomb and Arson unit has its work cut out for its 20 members who have already worked 383 suspicious fire scenes across the state this year.
Formerly known as the Tennessee Fire Marshall’s office, the law enforcement organization has as its flagship the Special Operations Response Team (SORT), which is a combination of arson investigators who can respond to a crime scene in a matter of hours.
William Barker, a member of SORT, spoke to McMinnville Noon Exchange as part of Fire Prevention Week Monday, and noted since the founding of the specialized unit in July 1999, arson arrests have soared way above the national average. Presently, the bomb and arson unit has a 24 percent clearance rate, more than two times the 10 percent national average. The group has investigated 60 incidents, 41 of which were deemed to be arson. The combined arsons resulted in an estimated $53 million in damage.
“We’re obviously proud of our clearance rate and our ability to quickly converge on scenes,” Barker said, pointing out 12 cases involving 19 murders have been cleared by the team.
The clearance includes the Myers Lane triple murders of July 1999, which marked one of the first responses for the specialized until which had formed only weeks before the slayings. The team’s efforts, in conjunction with other law enforcement, led to the arrests and convictions of Doug Myers and Johnny Lewis. Barker was a witness during the trials which were held in Cookeville.
“The major players have been convicted in that case,” Barker said, noting the cooperative effort between the response team and local and state law enforcement was responsible for breaking the case.
Barker said SORT is assisted by specially trained, accelerant-detecting canines and a state-of-the-art mobile special response vehicle which allows investigators to analyze certain evidence at the scene.
In a recent case, the team was assembled from across the state within six hours to investigate a blast which leveled a large section of the city of Martin. Investigators on the scene soon found the blast to be the work of an arsonist, who was arrested a short time into the probe.
Barker said the alleged arsonist owned a marshal arts studio and had apparently tried to burn down the building, but in doing so had used too much gasoline. The resulting blast not only destroyed two nearby buildings, but it also blew the arsonist out of the building, throwing him through the air several yards.
“When we talked to him, he said the last thing he remembered as he was flying through the air was thinking ‘I’m going to die,'” Barker said.
While pursuing arsonists is a major objective of the response team, Barker said many cases end up being accidental fires. Once a fire is found to be accidental, the case is turned over to local authorities since the unit does not have jurisdiction in accidental blazes.
The wording of their mission is a somewhat gray area when it comes to one of the latest threats, that being fires caused by meth labs. While the group has worked some lab fires upon request of federal investigators or the TBI, meth fires are considered to be accidental fires and not arson.
Meth lab fires are much more dangerous to investigate because of the volatile chemicals used with them, Barker said.
Along with SORT, Barker said another major tool of the bomb and arson unit is the public. Many crimes, Barker noted, have been solved by tips given by private citizens.
Due to the importance of information from the public, the bomb and arson unit has a hotline set up for anonymous tips. The number is 1-800-762-3017. Those giving tips which lead to solving arson are eligible for rewards of up to $1,500, according to the significance of the arson.
“I’ve seen rewards given out ranging from as low as $200 all the way up to the maximum $1,500,” Barker said.