Two jail employees are fired after being charged with arson

Two West Virginia jail employees have been fired after being charged in a fire that destroyed a Raleigh County home earlier this month. David Cole and Billy Ray Workman Jr., both of Beckley, have been charged with first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit a felony, according to a news release from the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Investigators said the blaze was reported along Crestview Drive in Beckley on Oct. 20. The home used to belong to former West Virginia Gov. Hullett Smith. The men were both employees of Southern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility at the time of their arrest and are no longer part of the organization, according to West Virginia Department of Homeland Security Secretary Rob Cunningham.