Haleyville man charged with arson after apartment fire

HALEYVILLE  - An early morning blaze at an apartment building at 802 6th Avenue in Haleyville has resulted in arson charges against a Haleyville man after fire officials entered the lower level of the structure to find a chair fire had spread, endangering the second floor.
Arrested and charged with second degree arson is Scottie Edward Smith, 46, according to Haleyville Fire Marshal Jeff Postell, noting that evidence revealed the fire had been intentionally set.
“There was no power to the structure,” Postell said. “The fire started at a chair at the lower level.”
Howard Scott,  occupant of the downstairs apartment, had not been home in about a week; Debra Purser, the upstairs tenant, had been gone over the past few days, authorities said.
“There was nobody inside at the time of the fire,” said Postell about the occupants.
Investigation, including interviews at the fire scene, placed Smith in the area at the time of the fire, Postell said, noting both the Haleyville Fire Marshal’s office and Haleyville Police are conducting an active investigation.
Smith was picked up  the morning of Jan. 15, by the Haleyville Police Department and questioned, resulting in the arson charge, Postell noted.
Smith was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Winston County Jail in Double Springs, authorities said.
The Haleyville Fire Department was called out to a structure fire at 802 6th Avenue around 11:54 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, at the two-floor white building, noted Acting Fire Chief Terrell Baccus.
The fire department rolled to the scene with a pumper, tanker and rescue unit, Baccus said.
Baccus confirmed the fire had started in the living room area of the lower apartment.
“When we got there, the person on the scene told first responders a chair was on fire,” Baccus stated. “Later, we found out the fire had extended into the ceiling. There was so much smoke.
“When they put the fire out, they didn’t see it had extended into the ceiling.  It burned holes in the floor of the second-story apartment.”
Firefighters extinguished the blaze by applying a total of about 280 gallons of water then ventilating the structure, Baccus said. 
No injuries were reported among any of the firefighters at the scene, according to Baccus.
Major fire damage was reported to the lower apartment, as well as the ceiling of the lower apartment/floor of the upstairs apartment, with smoke and water damage throughout the structure, but especially the lower floor, Postell noted.
Firefighters stayed on the scene until around 1:41 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15, when they returned to the station, according to Baccus.
There is no official connection between Smith and at least two other suspicious fires that occurred in the Haleyville area within a short period of time last year, Postell said.  One of those fires destroyed the former Reece Realty Office on Highway 13.  Within a short time span of the Reece Realty fire, a  vacant older wood frame house on 6th Avenue (just two blocks from the apartment fire) was  destroyed by fire.
No charges have been filed in either of these two cases, but investigation surrounding those incidents remains ongoing, according to Postell.
*When a defendant is charged with a crime, the charge is merely an accusation until or unless proven guilty in a court of law.