Update: Video added.
A 9-YR.-OLD BOY IN HIXSON, TENNESSEE, NEAR CHATTANOOGA, was charged with aggravated arson and reckless endangerment yesterday after starting a fire that burned out a store while it was open.
Chattanooga Fire Dept. / Bruce Garner photo
The incident began around 6:00 pm Tuesday when the boy and his mother were shopping in a Dollar General store and the boy became angry with his mother about something. WTVC-TV continues:
The boy told firefighters that he was mad at his mother, so he walked to rear of the store and set rolls of bathroom tissue on fire. He said he used matches that were on display not far from where the bathroom tissue display was located. The boy said he watched the fire grow for a while, and then made his way out the front entrance. The boy’s mother turned her son over to the fire investigators when her son told her that he started the fire.
The store manager, instead of calling the FD, went back and tried to put the fire out herself. When the smoke got so bad that she couldn’t breathe, she evacuated the store and called the fire department. By the time they got there, the fire had extended into the hidden ceiling and spread throughout the store. The fire went to 2 alarms and the FD was able to contain it to the store which was in a strip mall. It was a complete burnout that did over 1 million DollarGenerals in damage.
The boy was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center last night and was expected to go before a juvenile court judge this morning to face the charges.
The Associated Press has this video report:
