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Arrest Made in Marshall County Recycling Center Fire
ALBERTVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — An Albertville man is charged with arson in connection with a fire at a Marshall County recycling center in July.
Deputies arrested 28-year-old Kevin Lee Davison on Monday afternoon.
He is charged with arson and burglary, and is being held in the Marshall County Jail on a $45,000 bond.
Davison’s listed address is on the same street as Big Marshall Recycling, less than a half mile away.
Sheriff Scott Walls said Davison set the fire to cover up a burglary.
“At this time we have not recovered any items that actually were stolen there,” Walls said.
“The charges are result of interviews and the investigation of the officers.”
The fire began July 6 at the Big Marshall Recycling Center, next to the old Bishop Landfill. It smoldered for weeks.
“Hot spots in a place like that keep going for days and days, so we’re lucky that it didn’t get in the old part of the landfill that was covered up,” Walls said.
“A fire starting in an area like that could burn for 10 years when you have underground materials that have been capped off.
Big Marshall Recycling owner Tommy Gamble said he suspected foul play from the start.
“I always knew it was arson because we’d been over here every day for several months and there was always someone here” Gamble said.
“It was vacation time, we shut down for the week, then vacation’s almost over and we got a call saying it was on fire.”
Gamble said he was confident it was not an accident since there was no electricity or wiring in the building, nor were there any vehicles or fuel.
More than a dozen area fire departments responded and used more than a million gallons of water to control the flames.
“I’m sorry for all the neighbors, I never meant for anything like this to happen, we took a lot of precautions to prevent something like this from happening,” Gamble said.
Now one of those neighbors is in jail.
“If I had to say where to direct your anger, I’d say just let the court systems do their job, and we’ll see what happens,” Gamble said.
The Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office, Guntersville Fire Marshal, Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Marshall County Emergency Management Agency, and Alabama Department of Environmental Management worked together on the investigation.
“The successful conclusion in this case is the result of great cooperation between all investigating agencies,” Sheriff Walls said.
“We appreciate the involvement of each agency that sent someone with expertise needed to move this investigation along in an efficient manner.”
