A Bradley County Daycare center caught fire yesterday (Thursday) – when officials arrived on the scene things got worse.

The report says deputies spoke to the man who spotted the fire, who told them he saw it from the parking lot and ran into the daycare to alert the staff.

The man says the daycare’s owner, later identified as Russ Tackett, told him that “they were not going to evacuate the building because it was the children’s nap time.”  There were 27 children in the Daycare.

The report says when law enforcement arrived to the scene, “the building was not evacuated and was actively on fire with heavy smoke present

The report also provides new details about the amount of alcohol that James Carpenter (an employee) told authorities he had consumed when the fire broke out.

It says Carpenter “had the appearance of intoxication due to his slurred speech and glassy red eyes.”

After advising him of his Miranda rights, deputies say Carpenter told them he had consumed 2 shots of vodka “as well as multiple cans of beer” while at the daycare.

One Bradley County firefighter told investigators that while he was getting the children out, he saw one open beer in one of the classrooms.

The deputy then got consent to search the building.

He says he found an open, cold and half-empty 25-ounce bottle of Bud Ice, along with an unopened 25-ounce can of Natural Light Seltzer.

The deputy says he then located a plastic cup that “contained what appeared to be soda with liquor in it based on color and smell.”

The deputy spoke again with Carpenter, who told him that he had consumed 2 fireball whiskey shot-sized bottles as well as 2 shots of vodka.

The deputy asked him where the empty bottles were, and Carpenter told him they were either in a dumpster or in his vehicle. The deputy found an empty Bud Ice beer can in the burned dumpster but did not find any empty liquor bottles.

The fire was at Little Lambs Daycare on Waterlevel Highway. James Roger Carpenter Jr. was arrested and charged with 27 counts of child neglect. He is currently being held on a $135,000 bond at the Bradley County Jail, according to BCSO.  The 27 children and 4 staff members were safely evacuated to a nearby building.