A combined reward of up to $15,000 is being offered for information related to a suspicious April 8 fire that damaged historic Christ Church Episcopal in Tracy City, Tennessee.
The church listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015 is the oldest continuously operating Episcopal church on the Cumberland Plateau and was the first church in Tracy City, according to National Registry documents.
Grundy County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Brandon King said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is leading the case. Newly elected Sheriff Heath Gunter and his staff inherited the case from the previous administration. They and the TBI are asking for information from the public, King said.
"Anything would help," he said Friday in a phone interview.
TBI spokeswoman Susan Niland said there had been some developments in the ongoing probe into the suspicious church fire.
"As the investigation developed, it was determined the vehicle being sought is a mid-size SUV instead of the sedan initially mentioned," Niland said Friday in an email. "We don't have specifics as to type or color, however. We are very much still seeking information the public may have about this fire."
A cash reward of up to $5,000 is available through the state for information leading to an arrest or conviction, according to the Tennessee Advisory Committee on Arson.
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Jackie and Marvin Lawley are members of the church and have been active in getting the word out that a reward is offered in the case.
Marvin Lawley said Friday in a phone interview that a reward of $10,000 is being offered through the church and said his wife, Jackie, and other members have worked to get repairs made.
"My little carpenter team did all the repairs to the old doors and stuff," Jackie Lawley said Friday in a phone interview.
She said a man from a nearby Mennonite community did some more complicated repairs to one of the old doors and didn't charge for his work.
Christ Church Episcopal Rev. Amy Bentley Lamborn couldn't be reached Friday for comment on the ongoing investigation.
The church at the corner of 10th and Fifth streets in Tracy City dates back to 1925, according to the National Park Service's registry information.
The building stands on the same site as the original 1873 church building and is adjacent to the parish house on the property. That building was destroyed by a storm but was quickly rebuilt in 1925, according to registry documents.
The National Register recognizes the church's Gothic Revival style and its high degree of architectural integrity, along with its significance in the community, particularly from 1925 to 1950. Until the first church building was constructed, the congregation met in a sawmill shed across from the railroad depot in town. The pulpit and altar were makeshift, and the congregation either stood or sat on logs, documents state.
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The fire started April 8 sometime before 8:30 p.m. CDT, and Tracy City firefighters were the first to get to the scene to battle the blaze, according to the TBI.
TBI fire and explosives investigators and an accelerant detection K-9 team responded to the scene, along with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, authorities said in initial statements on the suspicious fire.
Anyone who has information about the fire is urged to call the TBI's arson hotline at 800-762-3017, 800-TBI-FIND or send an email to TipsToTBI@tn.gov.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.