COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A Columbia firefighter has been suspended after declining to answer police questions about an arson fire that killed an 80-year-old apartment resident.
Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said the city employee was identified Saturday from surveillance pictures, was contacted, refused to be questioned and requested an attorney.
Investigators aren’t calling the unnamed firefighter a crime suspect, but said they believe he has important information about the arson fire.
Eighty-year-old True Dent Henderson died from smoke inhalation during the January 29 blaze.
Multiple media organizations reported that the firefighter was placed on unpaid “investigatory suspension” late Saturday. Columbia city manager Teresa Wilson said she made the move to have “an appropriate distance” between the fire department and the investigation.
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