32 minutes ago
12/29/2008
New details about a weekend fire that destroyed a Vinton home.
The fire marshal's office ruled the fire an arson about 3:30 p.m. Monday. Investigators believe an accelerant may have been used to start it from inside the house.
"The process we're going through right now is we're layering the fire debris that was left over from the destruction of the fire and seeing what we can find in the way of what started the fire," said Brian Simmons, with the Roanoke County Fire Marshal's Office.
Roanoke County called in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to help.
"They're just here, extra hands, a lot of work, a lot of fire debris to go through, so adding extra hands at this point," said Simmons.
Those extra hands paid off. By Monday afternoon, investigators ruled the fire arson saying someone set it from the inside.
But why? That question was raised on WDBJ7.com when it was revealed the home's owner was a sex offender. According to court records, _____ was convicted in Bedford County in 2002 for indecent liberties with a minor.
Investigators contacted News7 asking we disable the public commenting section on the story for _____'s safety and the integrity of the case. News7 had already removed the comment section because it discussed crimes against children.
An ATF agent says _____ is listed as a sex-offender because of an Internet child sex sting, and there was no actual contact with a minor.
Police say they've talked to _____, and he's helping in the investigation.
News7 allows public comment on most of our stories on WDBJ7.com. However, when stories deal with sex crimes and victims' names are used, public commenting is not allowed.
In this case, News7 allowed public commenting because the original story was about the house fire.
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