Former Employee Facing Arson Charges For Fire That Destroyed Stone County Business:

Richard S. Bumbery (SCSO)

Authorities in Stone County have charged a former employee of a business with arson in connection to a fire that caused over a million dollars worth of damage to the business.

Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby charged Richard S. Bumbery, 45, with first degree arson for the fire that destroyed Bolivar Insulation last Sunday (12-12-10). 
-

Mark Newsom-SSCFPD

-
Firefighters who were dispatched to the blaze at 5:28 a.m. were hampered by brutal winds winds and frigid temperatures as they fought the early morning fire.  At one point the fire was so intense firefighters closed part of Highway OO while they fought the blaze for nearly seven hours.

Selby says Bumbery admitted to someone that he started the fire and wanted to do even more damage to the business. 

Sheriff Richard Hill says investigator's were led to Bumbery after a tipster called the C.O.M.E.T Drug Task Force.  The tipster told authorities that Bumbery described how he sparked the blase and told them they would find a tool stolen from the business in the mans living room.

Bumbery was arrested when Stone County deputies assisted by the Highway Patrol executed a search warrant at 51 Sparrow Lane in Galena.
-
He is being held in the Stone County Jail on a $200,000 cash only bond.