Ex-volunteer firefighter charged with setting Tennessee church fire

Arson tile
Arson tile

DRESDEN, Tenn. (AP) -- A former volunteer firefighter has been charged with setting a blaze at a church on Easter Sunday in Tennessee, authorities said.

Codie Austin Clark, 25, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of arson of a place of worship, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.

TBI agents and the Dresden Fire Department investigated a fire at New Salem Presbyterian Church on Highway 89 in Weakley County on Sunday.

Agents found that the fire had been intentionally set by Clark, who had served as a volunteer firefigher in the Dresden Fire Department, the TBI said. The fire department had been conducting an internal investigation involving Clark following recent fires in the area, the TBI said.

Clark is free on bond. A clerk at Weakley County General Session court said Thusday that she had no information about whether Clark had a lawyer to speak on hihs behalf about the arson charge.

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