Roy Moore accuser Tina Johnson loses home in 'arson attack'

Authorities in Alabama are investigating a possible arson attack after a fire destroyed the home of Tina Johnson, one of several women to accuse former US Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexually inappropriate behaviour.

Etowah County Sheriff's Office said no arrests have been made and there appears to be no connection to the scandal that engulfed Moore last year during his election campaign.

"The ongoing investigation does not lead us to believe that the fire is in any way related to Roy Moore or allegations made against him," the sheriff's office said.

"More details will be released when warrants are obtained."

Johnson said she lost everything in the blaze that engulfed her home in Gadsden, Alabama on Tuesday (2 January).

"I am devastated, just devastated," Johnson told Al.com. "We have just the clothes on our backs."

She told the local news website that law enforcement officials said the fire began in the rear of the house, but that they did not disclose how it started.

There have been no reported injuries from the blaze. Johnson and her husband were reportedly at work at the time of the fire, while her grandson was at school.

Johnson became one of several women to accuse Moore of inappropriate behaviour as he ran an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to become the Republican Senator for Alabama.

She said in 1991 Moore, then married and aged 44, "grabbed me from behind, on my buttocks," when she visited his law office in Gadsden. She was aged 28 at the time.

"The day he'd done that, he scarred me for life," Johnson recalled. "I was vulnerable from the start, and he was in a position of power. I think that he wanted to take my power so he could feel powerful."

Other women also made accusations against Moore, including four who said he romantically pursued them while they were teenagers and he was an adult.

Moore has denied all the accusations.

Moore lost the Alabama US Senate race to the Democrat Doug Jones, whose victory reduced the Republican majority in the Senate to 51-49.