Louisiana Dollar Tree Employee Arrested for Arson after Snack Aisle Goes up in Flames

An employee of a Dollar Tree store in East Baton Rouge Parish has been arrested after authorities alleged she set the snack aisle on fire back in March according to a WBRZ report.

Back on March 25 officials from two different fire departments were called out to the Dollar Tree Store at the corner of North Sherwood Forest Drive and Greenwell Springs Road to begin battling the fire.

At the time of the fire, Keiresten Dunn worked at the store's location, and officials now allege she is the person who set fire to the snack aisle. The fire damage the shelf, inventory on the shelf, and the ceiling.

According to officials with the Baton Rouge Police Department, the fire ended up costing $1.5 million worth of damage at the location. Dunn no longer is an employee with Dollar Tree.

She has been booked for aggravated arson.

Law.justia.com states the following about an aggravated arson charge:

Aggravated arson is the intentional damaging by any explosive substance or the setting fire to any structure, watercraft, or movable whereby it is foreseeable that human life might be endangered.

If convicted of the charge, Dunn could face six to 20 years in jail along with being fined $25,000. As part of the statute, anyone convicted must serve at least 2 years of the sentence.

As far as what prompted the fire, no information has been provided.

The sprinkler system in the store helped to mitigate fire damage along with firefighters from the Baton Rouge and Central Fire Departments.