ATLANTA -- A man accused of starting a fire that collapsed a portion of Interstate 85 a few miles north of downtown Atlanta was charged with arson Saturday.
The first-degree arson charge was added to a first-degree criminal damage to property charge that Basil Eleby already faced in connection with the raging fire Thursday evening that caused a heavily traveled overpass to disintegrate. Total bail was set at $200,000.
Eleby's next court appearance was set for April 14.
Deputy Insurance Commissioner Jay Florence said Eleby was arrested Friday along with Sophia Bruner and Barry Thomas. Bruner and Thomas were charged with criminal trespass, and investigators said more charges could be filed.
The three had gathered under the bridge to smoke crack, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Eleby told investigators that he regularly passes through the area on the way to his job at a nearby tire shop, according to the affidavit. Although Eleby denied setting the fire, Thomas said he watched Eleby place a chair on top of a shopping cart near a fiber-optic wire and ignite the chair, according to the affidavit. Then, the document said, they scattered.
The fire was "maliciously set," Sgt. Cortez Stafford, a spokesman for the Atlanta Fire Department, told The Washington Post. Investigators spoke with the suspects Friday night and did not release more details. Investigators said they believe Eleby set the fire, which quickly grew out of control as the flames consumed PVC pipes that had been stored under the elevated highway for more than a decade.
Eleby, 39, has a lengthy arrest record, according to the Journal-Constitution -- 19 arrests since 1995, mostly for drug offenses. Investigators said they believe he and the two other arrestees are homeless, Stafford said.
Transportation officials stored plastic pipes used to protect fiber-optic cables beneath the bridge. Such a practice is neither dangerous nor uncommon, Stafford said. Stafford said homeless people have been known to congregate in the area, part of which is accessible via railroad tracks near Piedmont Road.
Deputy Insurance Commissioner Jay Florence would not discuss how the fire was started or why, saying those details would be released as the investigation progresses.
The fire sent flames and smoke high into the air Thursday afternoon and crippled a major traffic artery in a city known for its rush-hour congestion.
Dozens of firefighters battled the roaring blaze under the stretch of interstate until they had to move out of harm's way when the span started breaking apart from the heat.
Firefighters shut down the roadway before it fell. No injuries were reported.
The highway collapse in Atlanta forced commuters Friday to find different routes to work or to use mass transit. Things won't get back to normal for months, said Russell McMurry, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation.
McMurry said at a news conference Friday that 350 feet of highway will need to be replaced in both directions on I-85, which carries about 400,000 cars a day through Atlanta and is one of the South's most important north-south routes. He said repairs will take "at least several months."
Traffic was bumper to bumper Friday on streets near the closed stretch of highway. Amelia Ford picked a new route to drive to work and said it took her 45 minutes to travel 3 miles from her Atlanta home to the nearest open on-ramp to the interstate.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao released $10 million for the initial repair work, and the Federal Highway Administration promised more in emergency repair funds. Officials gave no estimate of how much the job would cost.
Information for this article was contributed by Kate Brumback, Bill Barrow, Russ Bynum, Kevin McGill and Rebecca Santana of The Associated Press; and by Cleve R. Wootson Jr. of The Washington Post.
A Section on 04/02/2017