Arrest for setting fire on Lewis Chapel Mountain in Sequatchie County

DUNLAP, Tennessee (WDEF) – The Sequatchie County Sheriff has announced the arrest of a suspect responsible for a fire on Lewis Chapel road on Monday morning.

Witnesses reported that a small truck was leaving the scene of the leaf fire around 9 AM.

Detectives got images of the truck from a deer camera in the area.

Monday evening, the State of Tennessee Agriculture Crime Unit found the Gold Ford Ranger at a home in Hamilton County.

Sequatchie detectives picked up Matthew Ryan Wallace from Tuscaloosa.

They say he confessed to throwing a lit cigarette into a pile of leaves, watching it catch to a fire the size of his boot, then drive off.

Wallace faces a charge of setting fire to personal property or land.

Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock says his detectives are following leads on other fires in the area.

He says anyone found setting fires will be prosecuted.