Who's Behind Atlanta Highway Fire: Basil Eleby, Sophia Bruner and Barry Thomas Charged

Basil Eleby, the man who authorities believe started the fire under Interstate 85 in Atlanta, was charged Saturday with first-degree arson and first-degree criminal damage to property. Eleby is being currently held on a $200,000 bond for the two charges that amount to $100,000 each.

Two others, Sophia Bruner and Barry Thomas, were charged with criminal trespass. Investigators believe all three people were homeless, CNN reported.

The fire Thursday collapsed a major stretch of the busy highway, forcing all five lanes to be shut for possibly months. It took place during the evening rush hour, just after 6 p.m. near Piedmont Road.

"There were large chunks of concrete starting to come down. I mean 200- to 300-pound chunks of concrete. We could see it dropping near our guys. … Within two to three minutes, a 100-foot section -- 100 feet long, maybe 50 to 75 feet wide -- came crashing down," Sgt. Cortez Stafford, a spokesman for the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, told CNN.

It was not immediately clear how the authorities came to arrest the suspects.

"We believe they were together when the fire was set and Eleby is the one who set the fire," said Jay Florence, the state's deputy insurance and safety fire commissioner, the Associated Press reported.

Florence did not mention the motive or how the fire was started, CNN reported.

However, Stafford told the Washington Post that the fire was “maliciously set.”

According to the Georgia Department of Transportation, almost 700 feet of the highway suffered damage due to the massive fire.

On its official Twitter page, the department also released a travel advisory and an updated detour map for motorists. People have been advised to use I-75, I-285 and I-20.

Eleby reportedly told investigators that the three “discussed smoking crack cocaine together” about two hours before the incident. The 39-year-old has previously been arrested 19 times in the past two decades, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, citing prison records. Those arrests have been mostly related to drug offenses.

During his first hearing at Fulton County jail Saturday morning, Judge James Altman said Eleby could plead guilty at a future court proceeding, but he shook his head. He did not say anything during the short hearing, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The court had also refused to allow Eleby to skip the hearing – a request reportedly made by his public defender. Eleby is now scheduled to appear in court on April 14.

A state of emergency for Fulton County was declared by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. About $10 million has been released as part of emergency funds by the Department of Transportation in order to help the state in rebuilding efforts, which is expected to take several months, NBC News reported.