Arson

MARSHFIELD, Mo. -- The state fire marshal and the school superintendent suspect someone set a fire that damaged a storage building owned by the Marshfield school district. The district estimates the fire caused $100,000 in damage to the building and the lawn care and athletic equipment it housed. The equipment included shoulder pads and football helmets that belonged to Marshfield's youth football league and hurdles used by Marshfield's track team. Firefighters arrived at 3:30 a.m. Sunday to put out the fire.

Springfield, MO - A reward is offered for information that solves an arson at a Springfield church.  The inside of the New Apostolic Church on East North Road was torched early Tuesday morning.  Firefighters believe a burglar broke in, then set the sanctuary on fire to cover his tracks.  Crime Stoppers offers a reward up to a thousand dollars for information that leads to the arrest and filing of charges in the case.  People who saw anything suspicious...

Springfield - A man faces charges for two fires that investigators believe were intentionally set. On December 3 the fire department was called to two homes, on Valley Road and View Avenue. They sit about 10 blocks apart just west of Highway 65.  At one of the fires police detained 24 year old Harrison  Charlesworth.  He's now been charged with two counts of arson. No one was hurt in the fires, but a woman and several pets had to be rescued from the smokey homes.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Springfield fire marshals are requesting help identifying a man who set a fire at the Walmart store on West Sunshine Street at West Bypass.  The fire was about 11:30 a.m. on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31). Fire Marshal Phil Noah says the man walked around the store for awhile, then went to the lawn and garden section and set a bag of charcoal on fire.  He then walked out and drove away.  A store employee burned his hands trying to put out the fire and was treated at a hospital.

DUKE, Mo. -- The fire chief of the Duke Fire Department says it appears a fire at the Calvary Church was intentionally set.  The church on Highway J is about eight miles from the east gate of Fort Leonard Wood, southwest of Edgar Springs. The church had already burned to the ground when fire crews arrived around 5 a.m. Wednesday.  Despite that, the chief says there is evidence that someone tried to break into the building.  Members of the community and of the church are at a loss at who would target this place of worship.

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. -- Sentencing today for two Lawrence County brothers after they admitted to setting fires to abandoned homes and hay bales last fall.  Christopher and Matthew Smith both pleaded guilty to charges of arson and burglary this week. Former Halltown volunteer firefighter, Cody Gossett is also scheduled to be in court today on arson charges.  He's pleaded not guilty.

The Greene County Sheriff’s department is questioning two men about a suspcious fire at the Atomic Fireworks building west of Springfield. A fire broke out at the business around 12:30 a.m. on September 7.  Surveillance video showed two men running away from the scene as the fire expanded. Detectives determined the fire was intentionally set.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Springfield City Council is considering a measure to crack down on the growing number of arson fires. Law enforcement and fire department officials from Greene County would lead the group. Part of their responsibility will include investigating arson fires. In the last six years, there have been 467 intentionally set fires in Springfield. They've resulted in property loss of more than $5 million. The public will be allowed to comment on the proposal at tonight's meeting.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. --  A family scrambled from their home on Saturday night after it caught fire, and a Springfield fire marshal says the blaze could have been arson. The flames broke out just after 1 a.m. in the 2100 block of North Pierce Avenue, near High Street. The fire marshal said someone set a tub filled with combustibles on fire at the home's back door.  When firefighters arrived, they say flames were six feet high.      The blaze was knocked down quickly and fortunately there was not a lot of damage to the home, but the family is wondering who and why someone would do this to their home.

BERRYVILLE, Ark. -- A three-week investigation may have solved up to 10 burglary and theft cases on both sides of the Arkansas-Missouri border.  Two people, Darrell Allen and Tracy Matthews, are charged in Carroll County with one of the burglaries and could be charged with more. On April 7, Carroll County Sgt. Daniel Klatt responded to a residential house fire at 665 CR 2415.  The house belongs to Terry and Vivian Thornton.  The investigation determined several items were stolen from the house before the fire.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Springfield City Council is considering a measure to crack down on the growing number of arson fires. Law enforcement and fire department officials from Greene County would lead the group. Part of their responsibility will include investigating arson fires. In the last six years, there have been 467 intentionally set fires in Springfield. They've resulted in property loss of more than $5 million. The public will be allowed to comment on the proposal at tonight's meeting.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Every year, the number of emergency calls fire departments throughout Greene County respond to continues to rise. "Just Battlefield Fire District alone from 2011 to 2012, we saw a 60 percent increase in our call volume, and that's not just fires that's all calls," said Dennis Reynolds, deputy chief for the Battlefield Fire Protection District. The increase can be burden on resources.  That's why fire departments, along with law enforcement agencies, are looking into forming an Arson Task Force.  The measure was presented to Springfield City Council on Monday night.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The man who died inside a home that burned early Tuesday was Richard Nothnagel.  City police released his identity on Wednesday morning and said he likely died of a gunshot wound, not from the fire, which a fire marshal says was intentionally set. Nothnagel lived at the home at 1930 E. Elm St. and was the only person home at the time of the fire, which was reported about 3:45 a.m.   His wife, Brenda, is in a hospital, according...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- City police detectives released the identities of three people found dead in a home after a fire last Saturday.  They say it appears the two children did not die from the fire, which appears to have been intentionally set in the bedroom. The fire was at 1450 N. Texas Ave. about 9 a.m.   Neighbors and passersby say they banged on the doors and tried to alert people inside, but were repelled by flames and heavy black smoke.  They heard smoke detectors blaring.

Springfield - A man faces charges for two fires that investigators believe were intentionally set. On December 3 the fire department was called to two homes, on Valley Road and View Avenue. They sit about 10 blocks apart just west of Highway 65.  At one of the fires police detained 24 year old Harrison  Charlesworth.  He's now been charged with two counts of arson. No one was hurt in the fires, but a woman and several pets had to be rescued from the smokey homes.

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) now offer a reward of $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist(s) at the Islamic Center of Joplin last July 4.  This is an increase from the original reward of $15,000 announced on July 16.  The combined $50,000 reward is comprised of $40,000 from the FBI and $10,000 from the ATF. On the morning of July 4, at approximately 3:30 a.m., a fire occurred on the roof of the Islamic Center of Joplin.

ROLLA, Mo. -- A man from Rolla is charged with hiring someone to burn down a rental home that he owned.  State fire investigators say Christopher Blair, 39, received an insurance payment for $64,400 on the loss a couple of weeks after the fire. According to the probable cause statement used as the basis of the charge, the fire at 1510 Spencer Street in Rolla was reported about 1:40 a.m. on March 27.  Firefighters had to force their way into the home through locked doors to put it out. An investigator said burn patterns “on the kitchen floor leading into the living room and up the steps that were consistent with the burning of an ignitable liquid.

HALLTOWN, Mo. -- Investigators say a large wildfire in western Greene County this week was not arson.  The Greene County Sheriff's Department says two pieces of glass stuck together likely caused a magnifying effect and started a field on fire.  The fire started late Tuesday afternoon.  Several fire departments worked together through the night to protect homes and contain the fire, which was in a rural area along Farm Road 29 near Farm Road...