GAFFNEY, S.C. (WSPA) – A reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of an arsonist.
On June around 11:30 p.m., the Gaffney Fire Department responded to a house fire on Holland Street.
“Originally it came in with the possibility of a person trapped inside, our crew got there and thankfully didn’t locate anyone’s inside and were able to put the fire out quickly,” Billy Bishop, fire marshal, said.
Investigators said someone entered the property and set two separate fires inside the home.
“That’s part of the whole investigation of how the people or the person got inside the home but there was nobody at home at the time of the fire the homeowner was not home,” Bishop added. “He was out actually fishing, and he was notified of the fire and came home after that.”
Investigators said the home cannot be lived in until the damage is fixed.
“The house is not a total loss, it can be fixed but the problem is arson is a problem nationwide, worldwide and these things cause millions of dollars in property damage. And anyone that would go into someone’s house and set it on fire is a danger to the community,” Bishop said.
A reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. The reward amount has not been determined yet, but investigators are hopeful it will generate new leads.
“You got to think number one, if you set someone’s house on fire you don’t know if they are in there, so you always have the danger to life on that front,” Bishop added. “We’ve been out tracking down leads and we got leads up until this point, we made some progress in the case. We just feel that the reward that’s being offered through Crimes Stoppers will incentivize someone to come forward and tell us what they know.”
The person or people responsible could be facing burglary as well as arson charges.
If anyone has information regarding this fire, contact 864-487-3655 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.