Two Portal men were charged with arson this week after a state fire marshal ruled the blaze that consumed their rented home had been intentionally set.
    Kenneth Winton Rahn, 58, and Richard D. Sheffield, 28, both of Conley Street in Portal, were charged with first-degree arson, Portal Police Chief Jason Sapp said.
    Firefighters responded in December to a grass fire at the suspects’ duplex apartment, but the damage was confined to the outside and did not affect the structure.
    On Jan. 19, firefighters were again called to the home, and this time the blaze started inside the residence and destroyed the duplex, which was vacant on one side, he said.
    “It was suspicious that two fires occurred in such a short time at the same place, so we called the state fire marshal’s office,” said Bulloch County Fire Chief Christopher Ivey.
    After Sapp and Ivey reported the blaze to State Fire Marshal Dan Meallor, who responded to the scene, Meallor questioned the men and sent samples off for testing.
    “The samples tested positive for accelerant,” he said Wednesday.
    That and further evidence led to Rahn and Sheffield’s arrests, Meallor said. Ivey said the men were charged Friday.
    Rahn and Sheffield are being held in the Bulloch County Jail without bond, awaiting Superior Court hearings, according to jail records.
   
    Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.