Larry Swearingen was celebrating his birthday last Friday with family in Thomaston, Ala., when he found out his home was on fire.
“Friday was my birthday and also my mom”s. My sister had a birthday on Nov. 3, so we were all getting together for a big birthday party. Someone called my mom around 10 p.m. and told her my house was on fire. So I came home immediately,” he said.
Swearingen is a deputy town marshal in Caledonia and an assistant supervisor with the Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office. He had lived in the 78 Main St. home in Caledonia for six years.
“I am the only one who lives there. My three daughters are with me every other weekend, and they were with me (in Thomaston, Ala.) that weekend,” he said.
“I got back here around midnight, and saw the damage. I am glad no one was here,” he added.
The fire has been ruled as an arson, confirmed Detective Ryan Rickert of the Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office.
The front and west side of the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house Swearingen called home for six years received the heaviest damage.
The garage was heavily charred, and all that is left in the garage is the remains of a boat trailer.
“My patrol car was parked in the driveway and had damage, along with my boat in the garage,” Swearingen said.
Ray Lashawn McDuffie, 22, of 17 N. Church St. in Caledonia, has been charged with arson and accessory after the fact in the case.
McDuffie remains in custody at the Clay County Jail under a $90,000 bond — $75,000 for the arson charge and $15,000 for the accessory charge. His case is scheduled to be heard in Lowndes County Circuit Court in February.
Meanwhile, Swearingen is making plans to rebuild elsewhere once insurance wraps up its paperwork.
“I have been wanting a spot by the river,” he said.
Swearingen has been away from work since the fire.
“I plan to return to work pretty quick,” he said.
Allen Baswell was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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