Arson

The Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office has brought arson charges against a firefighter for setting a hurricane-damaged firehouse on fire. Jamison Smith, 18, is charged with simple arson for the fire that destroyed the Iowa Volunteer Fire Department’s former main station.

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Volunteer firefighters in two states, Pennsylvania and Iowa, are facing criminal charges that accuse them of involvement in multiple arsons. In Pennsylvania, Andrew Bischofis has been arrested by Pennsylvania State Police on charges he was involved with setting four building fires between September 30 and October 1, 2023.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for March 21, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss arson charges against a volunteer firefighter in Georgia for setting his own home on fire to collect on the insurance; a guilty plea by a ...

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A volunteer firefighter in Georgia has been charged with setting his own home on fire to collect on the insurance. Todd Anthony was arrested by the Greene County Sheriff's Office on March 3, 2023, almost a year after the March 16, 2022 fire.

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An Ohio firefighter is facing federal arson charges for setting a series of wildland fires earlier this year. James Bartels, 50, is accused of setting at least 24 fires in the Wayne National Forest.

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A Virginia firefighter has been charged with burning his own vehicle. Matthew Christopher Bush is accused of felony arson for setting his 2021 Honda Civic on fire on August 12, 2022.

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A Missouri volunteer firefighter is facing three arson-related felonies for a series of fires dating back to last year. Joshua A. Gerstner, 19, was charged today with three counts of “knowingly burning or exploding.”

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A man who spent 22 years in prison for his involvement in the massive 1988 explosion that killed six Kansas City firefighters, was been awarded $344,122.30 in legal fees following his successful Freedom of Information lawsuit.

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A Nevada man who reportedly stole firefighting gear, set a fire, and impersonated a firefighter, has been arrested and charged with over one dozen offenses. Kevin Critor, 29, is accused or arson, impersonating a firefighter, and possessing over $50,000 worth of stolen fire gear.

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The man whose state court conviction for setting a fire that killed three Pittsburgh firefighters in 1995 was set aside due to prosecutorial misconduct, will have to face a retrial after all in federal court. Gregory Brown Jr. was convicted of setting the Bricelyn Street Fire on Valentine’s day, 1995.

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A Tennessee firefighter who was under investigation for a string of recent fires, has been charged with setting a church on fire on Easter Sunday. Codie Austin Clark, 25, has been charged by the Weakley County Sheriff’s Office with setting fire to the New Salem Presbyterian Church.

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A former Texas firefighter who was sentenced to ten years in prison for arson, has been charged with burglarizing his former firehouse months after his release on parole. Kyle Harmon was arrested yesterday after he was observed on security video entering the Cameron Gardens firehouse on two occasions and taking fuel.

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Today a magistrate judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a search warrant application to investigators from the Chicago Fire Department looking into a string of arsons. The search warrant grants investigators access to Google’s electronic geo-fencing data.

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The Ohio Court of Appeals has rejected the appeal of a convicted arsonist, that the fire department’s failure to preserve fire scene evidence warranted a reversal of his conviction. Bryan Kirby was convicted in Butler County Court of Common Pleas of aggravated burglary, arson, and two counts of aggravated arson.

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