An Adair County woman has admitted to deliberately starting a fire that led to the death of a firefighter.
The fire happened back in June of 2011. Since then, the Columbia Fire Department has been waiting for answers. Assistant Fire Chief Charles Sparks died while battling the fire that firefighters say was suspicious from the get go.
“ He’s our first line of duty death that we’ve had,” said Chief Michael Glasgow.
Firefighters say that Sparks had a heart attack while working to put out a fire at Brandi and Steve Pritchard’s home. The Department of Justice said that the fire was intentionally set by the Pritchards to collect insurance money.
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“Suspicious circumstances involved, we knew. We called the arson investigator in the morning of the fire,” said Donald Hare with the Columbia Fire Department.
On Tuesday, Brandi Pritchard pleaded guilty to arson in a plea deal.
Firefighters say that they have been waiting for this for a long time.
“It brings closure to the department and peace to the department. Firefighting is a team effort and we lost a good team member,” said Glasgow.
The US Attorney’s Office said that Brandi Pritchard faces a minimum of seven years in prison for setting the fire.
