By Natalie Neysa Alund
The Knoxville News-Sentinel
CLAIBORNE, Tenn. — Following a more than seven-month investigation by authorities, two former Claiborne County firefighters have been arrested in connection to two arsons in the Springdale community near Tazewell.
Brandon Evans, 19, and Michael Loper, 19, both former volunteers with the Springdale Volunteer Fire Department, face felony criminal charges following an April 24 fire at an abandoned home on Floyd Evans Lane, Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department Capt. David Honeycutt said Friday.
Springdale VFD Chief Adam Payne became suspicious about their possible involvement in the blaze when one of the suspects arrived very quickly at the fire, said Anthony Fultz with the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office Bomb and Arson Task Force.
“They were Johnny on the spot, the first to respond to it,” Fultz said Friday.
Fultz said both men continued to work for the fire department at the task force’s request until the investigation recently concluded. They were fired the day of their arrest, he said.
Evans was arrested Oct. 8 and was subsequently charged with reckless burning in connection to a mid-March brush fire on a hillside off U.S. Highway 58 in Harrogate.
He is due in court next week on arson and reckless burning charges, a Claiborne County general sessions court clerk said.
Loper was arrested on an arson charge Sept. 27. His next court date is Dec. 8.
Both men were free Friday from the Claiborne County jail in lieu of $50,000 bond.
Honeycutt said Claiborne fire officials are also investigating four other abandoned house fires in the Clairfield area near the Campbell County line.
“We have some persons of interest in those fires,” Honeycutt said.
He would not say if Evans or Loper are suspects in those blazes.
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