Fire department official accused of setting dozens of fires at national forest in southeast Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An official with a volunteer hearth division who is also a former 911 dispatcher is now dealing with federal costs after he was accused of setting not less than 24 arson fires at a nationwide forest in southeast Ohio.

James Bartels, 50, of Patriot, Ohio, has admitted to setting fires in Wayne Nationwide Forest, in line with the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of Ohio. He reportedly set the fires with a lighter to “give the boys one thing to do” and to distract himself from despair, prosecutors say.

Bartels, who’s an administrator on the Greenfield Township Volunteer Fireplace Division and is a former 911 dispatcher for Gallia County, was arrested Tuesday and is charged with willfully committing arson.

Prosecutors say a truck registered to Bartels was seen close to the forest by officers with the Ohio Division of Pure Assets on Oct. 29, and Bartels was seen on a street close by. Inside an hour, a fireplace was reported within the space, prosecutors say.

Bartels resigned as a dispatcher on Nov. 8. Authorities say not less than 17 fires have been set after Bartels resigned. He reportedly was seen twice within the neighborhood of fires simply minutes after they began.

Prosecutor’s say the infotainment system information in Bartels’ truck locations him on the places of the fires.

Bartels is scheduled for a preliminary listening to in U.S. District Court docket on Jan. 3 in Columbus. Willfully committing arson is a federal crime punishable by as much as 5 years in jail.