BELLE — Maries County Prosecutor Anthony (Tony) Skouby said on Nov. 24 that he is trying to decide if he will charge Vienna Police Chief Shannon Thompson for starting the Aug. 7 Vienna Pointe residential facility fire.

“The video evidence shows Shannon Thompson started the fire by placing his lit cigarette in an artificial plant,” Skouby said on Nov. 24. “A cigarette butt can was just 10 feet away, and he put his lit cigarette out in a plastic potted plant.”

A recent conclusion of the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s reopened investigation into the Vienna Pointe blaze held that the fire was accidental. However, they added video footage provided by the facility’s insurance carrier, Denenberg Tuffley, PLLC, to the report. Skouby, who has reviewed the report, said video evidence led the fire marshal to add that “the fire was started by someone placing a lit cigarette inside an artificial planter,” removing previous findings that the cause was “undetermined.”

“I just read the report (from the State Fire Marshal’s Office),” he said. “This is the conclusion of the investigation after they went back, got the video, and added it to the report. I believe that listing the fire as accidental is insulting to my intelligence.”

The prosecutor said he has watched the video footage that was provided by the facility’s insurance carrier and shows a uniformed officer entering Vienna Pointe, a residential mental health facility (around 11:57 p.m., according to the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) report from Maries County Dispatch).

“The video shows him coming back out, seeing that (the planter’s) on fire. 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,” Skouby said. “So he left, knowing he started a fire, before making sure it was out.”

The call was completed by 11:58 p.m., according to the CAD report.

A letter sent to the county commissioners on Sept. 22 from Denenberg Tuffley, PLLC, alleged the fire started in the same planter 90 minutes later.

“The cause of the loss was initially undetermined, but our subsequent review of the assisted-living facility’s surveillance footage shows a Maries County Sheriff’s officer visiting the facility, extinguishing a cigarette in a planter on his way in, and stepping on the planter on his way out to try to extinguish the apparently still-burning embers. The fire started in that planter roughly 90 minutes after the officer left,” the letter alleged. “As a result, the Maries County Sheriff’s Office may be responsible for the ensuing damage, which is expected to exceed $4.4 million.”

Maries County Sheriff Mark Morgan denied that his deputy was at the facility, which is confirmed by the Aug. 6 dispatch CAD report. However, the same CAD report shows Thompson responded to the facility.

Thompson, a reserve deputy for the sheriff’s office, confirmed on Nov. 4 that he responded alone to an emergency call at Vienna Pointe on Aug. 6 and didn’t see a planter on fire. He said he also responded to the Aug. 7 fire call.

Skouby said he read the State Fire Marshal’s interview with Thompson, where the police chief was asked why he didn’t say anything about the possible cause of the fire on Aug. 7 to the on-scene investigator, alleging Thompson didn’t “say a word.”

“Later in the report, Thompson said, ‘I didn’t think I started the fire,’” Skouby relayed.

When asked if he planned to charge Thompson, Skouby said he was still looking into it.

“I’m wrestling with that question right now,” he said. “I’m not impressed with the Marshal’s investigation at all. I may do some more investigating. I will let you know if I make a charging decision.”

Skouby said he isn’t sure who will be responsible for the $4.4 million that the insurance company originally sought from the Maries County Sheriff’s Office.

The Advocate left a message for Vienna Mayor Tim Schell at 11:50 a.m. on Nov. 25 for comment on the investigation and if the insurance company has been in contact with the city about the fire. A call was not returned by The Advocate’s deadline.

A second call was placed to Thompson at 12:29 p.m. on Nov. 25, but was not returned by deadline.