A Nashville woman is facing arson charges after police say they caught her filming a dumpster fire near the gas pumps at a Shell station on White Bridge. Officers say 35-year-old Heather Spain was recording the blaze when they arrived Monday evening, and that she had already been banned from the property before the fire started.
Metro Nashville police responded to the 200 block of White Bridge shortly after 5 p.m. on Oct. 26, according to WKRN News 2, and found Spain filming the dumpster fire. Because she had previously been banned from the property, officers took her into custody on the spot rather than simply citing her and sending her on her way.
Employees at the station showed officers security footage that, according to arrest documents cited by the station, showed Spain lighting pages from a notebook on fire and throwing them into the dumpster. Officers confiscated two lighters, a notebook, dry deodorant spray and other items from her during the arrest, per the same account.
Fire Put Customers and Workers in Danger, Officer Says
An MNPD officer told WKRN that the fire's proximity to the gas pumps had put employees and customers in danger, underscoring why the situation drew a quick police response rather than being treated as a routine trash fire. No injuries were reported, and the Nashville Fire Department extinguished the flames before they could spread.
Spain now faces charges of arson, attempted arson, public intoxication and criminal trespassing, the station reports. She was held on a $15,000 bond at the Davidson County Detention Center following her arrest.
Arson Cases Kept Separate From Police Crime Data
Fires like this one fall outside the numbers most Nashvillians might check when sizing up crime in their neighborhood. Per a notice from the Metro Nashville Police Department, arson offenses in Davidson County are investigated by the Nashville Fire Department and are not included in the department's public Uniform Crime Reports, meaning cases like Spain's are tracked separately from the broader police crime picture.
That separate pipeline has reportedly been busier than usual. The Nashville Fire Department noted that its Fire Investigations Division saw a significant increase in workload toward the end of 2025, which the department attributed to the city's continued growth and the increasing complexity of fire-related incidents.
It is not the only gas station fire to draw Metro Nashville police attention in recent months. In a case that remains unresolved, WSMV reported that police were still searching last month for two men accused of driving a stolen van into a Madison gas station, stealing an ATM and setting the van on fire; the fire spread to the store.
