A volunteer fire department administrator in Ohio has been charged with arson and accused of intentionally causing 24 fires, which he admitted to lighting “to give the youngsters something to do.”
James Bartels, 50, appeared in court in Columbus on Tuesday to face federal accusations that may result in a five-year prison sentence.
Bartels, an official with the Greenfield Township Volunteer Fire Department, was taken into custody on Tuesday morning.
He is suspected of lighting his first fire in Wayne National Forest in the spring of 2022 and reporting it to his crew.
Prosecutors say James Bartels, 50, was employed as a 911 dispatcher and administrator for a volunteer fire department when he began his arson rampage.
Bartels stated that he started the fires to assist his coworkers at the Greenfield Volunteer Fire Department by ‘giving them something to do’
A law enforcement officer observed Bartels’ maroon Ford F-250 pickup near the Cauley Fire on October 29.
Bartels resigned from his second job as a 911 operator for Galia County at the beginning of November.
On November 8, at least 17 fires were started, and Bartels was observed near two of them.
On December 8, Bartels was interviewed by police and admitted to causing many fires.
Five years in prison await Bartels if he is found guilty of federal arson charges.
He confessed to using a lighter to ignite the fires to “give the lads something to do” and to divert himself from his misery.
Officers provided Bartels with a map, and he determined that he was liable for 24 locations.
The data from his truck’s infotainment system also placed him at the fires’ sites.
He must return to court on January 3.
»Former 911 dispatcher set fires “to give the boys something to do.”«