SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WKRN) -- Spring Hill officials are asking for the public's help to find the arsonist(s) responsible for two suspicious structure fires over the last two months.

The incidents are unusual since they happened less than eight weeks apart in two abandoned houses across the street from each other.

The latest fire was reported around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 4 on Jim Warren Road at Crafton Road. Body camera footage shows the Spring Hill Police Department responding to the secluded area as an orange light filled the night sky. Fire investigators determined this blaze was the result of arson.

"There was no other cause than to be lit. It's an incendiary-type fire," Spring Hill Fire Chief Graig Temple told News 2.

Less than two months earlier, just before 1 a.m. on March 12, there was another arson involving an abandoned home in the 3400 block of Jim Warren Road

According to Temple, since a woman was seen in the vicinity, fire teams came back the next day and carefully sifted through the charred debris: "We completely dug out the entire scene to make sure that we didn't have evidence of a body."

Temple said he suspects homeless individuals frequenting the area may have played a role in both incidents.

"There are several properties here that have been abandoned," the fire chief said. "They were previously farms, but the homes are now just dilapidated, they're boarded up. It gives someone an opportunity where there's nobody around."

On Wednesday, May 7, Spring Hill Fire officials said there was a small break in the case. According to Fire Marshal James Berry, he was traveling down Jim Warren Road around 8 a.m. when he passed two men in their late 20s or early 30s walking along the road.

A woman traveling behind Berry flashed her lights several times to get the fire marshal's attention. The woman told Berry that she saw the men jump the fence and then run toward another property that's part of the same development.

"The lady said they just scaled it and started going on up the driveway," Berry said, calling the situation suspicious.

Police were called to the scene, but the men disappeared into the countryside.

"So two of five homes on this road have been set on fire by somebody and literally across the street?" News 2's Andy Cordan summarized. "You never hear about that."

"There's coincidences and then there's things like this that come up," Temple replied. "There's really no other cause, no other reason for why these homes were destroyed."

"By the time we arrived in both instances, both of these houses were already completely burned to the ground, so they had been burning a long period of time," the fire chief added. "This area of Jim Warren is not traveled very often, especially at those late hours, so the person that has been involved in this -- or the persons -- have had ample time to light the fires and get away from the area."

If you know anything about either of these suspicious structure fires in Spring Hill, you're asked to contact Temple at [email protected] or 931-451-0636, or call the Tennessee Arson Hotline at 1-800-762-3017. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture offers a reward of up to $5,000 to anyone who provides information leading to the apprehension of an arsonist.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/2-suspicious-fires-on-same-spring-hill-road-under-investigation/