A former southeastern Ohio fire official was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $638,000 after he admitted to igniting over two dozen fires with a lighter in Wayne National Forest, federal authorities stated Monday.
According to court records, James Bartels, who was an administrator for the Greenfield Township Volunteer Fire Department, told law enforcement in an interview that he started the series of fires to “give the boys something to do” and to distract himself from his despair.
According to authorities, the series of fires in 2022 burned around 1,300 acres of land and led to a costly response that included more than 100 firemen from multiple states.
Bartels was sentenced to a year and a half in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley.
He was also ordered to pay reparations to the U.S. Forest Service for fire damage. Bartels was also compelled to register with the arson registry in Ohio.
According to federal data, the majority of wildland fires are started by people, either on purpose or by accident.
According to court papers, more than 40 probable arson fires were set in 2022 in Wayne National Forest, which is located in Ohio. Bartels confessed to starting 26 of them.
Court records: For months, a fire official started forest fires
Bartels “discovered” a fire that had not been reported shortly after midnight in April 2022 while working for the Greenfield Fire Department. This was the first fire mentioned in the complaint that was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
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A truck that was registered to Bartels was seen by an officer from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources six months later, close to the forest.
According to court records, a fire was reported within an hour.
Bartels has also worked as a police officer for a number of law enforcement agencies and as a 911 dispatcher for Gallia County. According to court records, he stepped down from his employment as a dispatcher on November 8, 2022.
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At least 17 fires were started within days of his resignation.
According to the lawsuit, there were at least two occasions when a witness saw Bartels’ truck close to where a fire began just minutes after it was ignited. According to court documents, Bartels’ truck’s infotainment system confirmed that he was close to a number of fires when they began.