The home of a Genoa Township police officer under investigation burns to the ground, and there is still a question if the fire was revenge against Officer Edsil Spence, currently on paid leave during the investigation.
The fire chief in Madison Township is not ready to call the fire suspicious, but the home was being renovated and had no gas or electricity. So something else had to burn down Spence's house
10TV found Officer Spence at his home in Groveport on Friday, but now that home is gone.
"There was a fire. Something started it; we're trying to determine what started it," says Madison Township Chief Clifford Mason.
Fire investigators and Madison Township Police were in the scene, just in case the fire turned out to be arson.
Spence is under investigation for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl at an east side motel, and the girl's father has been vocal.
"Get in a quiet place and think about that child in your life. Think about what you would do if someone like Ed Spence got a hold of your baby," he says.
That father is a Columbus firefighter. Tuesday, he told 10TV a fireman who sets a fire is no better than a cop who rapes a child.
He says, "Not only did I have nothing to do with this, I wouldn't condone it. We have a good case against this guy and this undermines the investigation. At any moment, not only will I cooperate with this investigation, I'd take a polygraph in a heartbeat."
Sources tell 10TV that the father of the accuser did take a polygraph test Tuesday night, and say he passed it.
According to the fire chief, Spence was not home when firefighters arrived just before 2 a.m.
"The conversation went like this; he was with friends and relatives out of town. He got a call and came back. He was devastated by the fire loss," says Chief Mason.
Tuesday afternoon, a dog trained to sniff accelerants was brought to the scene but it could be weeks before investigators determine what or who started the blaze.
The dog did make six hits in the house, indicating, possibly, the presence of some accelerant, but tests have to be done in the lab to determine just what the dog found and to determine whether this was a deliberate fire.
