Shocking video reveals how Missouri police chief by accident burned down nursing residence
Shocking surveillance footage reveals how a Missouri police chief’s cigarette butt accidentally started a huge fire at a care home.
Vienna Police Chief Shannon Thompson ignited the blaze at the Vienna Point Residential Care Center after he tossed his stub into a plastic planter.
Thompson was responding to a false 911 call which on August 7 when he stopped to smoke a cigarette.
Surveillance footage obtained by Wave 3 News showed him snuffing it out in a planter in the entryway before returning to the planter to stomp on it before leaving the care facility after determining there was no emergency.
But less than two hours later, the plant ignited and a blaze spread to the building.
Within 30 minutes, the entire front entrance was covered in bright flames that began seeping through the door cracks into the home.
No one was injured in the fire, but the building was deemed a total loss.
The initial report by the Missouri State Fire Marshall ruled the fire an undetermined and said strong winds and limited water supply restricted crews from being able to stop the fire.
Vienna Point Residential Care Center caught fire on August 7 after Police Chief Shannon Thompson smoked a cigarette on the porch after responding to a false 911 call
Thompson stopped to smoke a cigarette and snuffed it out in a planter in the entryway
However, the insurer later submitted the surveillance footage to the agency, showing Thompson’s involvement.
Investigators still concluded the fire was accidental as the cigarette did not show smoldering embers.
Thompson allegedly told the agency he didn’t think he started the fire.
Maries County Prosecutor Anthony Skouby said in August he would consider pressing charges against Thompson, but has not yet done so.
‘The prosecuting attorney is still investigating and gathering evidence,’ a spokesperson for the Skouby told the Daily Mail. ‘He has not made a decision yet.’
In August, he told the Maries County Advocate: ‘A cigarette butt can was just 10 feet away, and he put his lit cigarette out in a plastic potted plant,’ he told the at the time.
‘I believe that listing the fire as accidental is insulting to my intelligence,’ he said.
‘The video shows him coming back out, seeing that [the planter’s] on fire.
He was seen stomping in the plastic planter before leaving the grounds
Roughly 90 minutes later, the planter was on fire and set the building ablaze shortly after. The fire was ruled an accident
‘He messes with the potted plant for a second and then gets back in his car and drives away without making sure it was put out.
‘So he left, knowing he started a fire, before making sure it was out.’
Skouby said he was ‘not impressed with the Marshal’s investigation at all.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Thompson for comment.
