By Moriah Balingit
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITCAIRN, Pa. — When the Pitcairn Volunteer Fire Co. decided to vote in 19-year-old James Cole at the beginning of June, members knew he had a checkered past.
He told Chief Chris Fouser that he had been kicked out of Monroeville Volunteer Fire Department No. 1 for reasons he did not specify and then lied about joining another company, the chief said.
But the Pitcairn company decided to give him a second chance and voted him in at the beginning of June.
About three weeks later, he was charged with setting trash can fires near his apartment building.
Firefighters arrived at the building at 5:30 a.m. June 24 after Mr. Cole called in a trash can fire. They quickly extinguished it and left. Firefighters returned at 11:30 a.m. for an identical call from Mr. Cole and found him fully outfitted in gear ready to fight a fire, watching the fire burn, according to Allegheny County Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Don Brucker.
Another firefighter, Jennifer Bezts, who was at the scene the second time because she lives in the same apartment building, put out the trash fire with an extinguisher.
According to an affidavit, Pitcairn police brought Mr. Cole to the station after they found him on the scene of the second fire and he admitted to police at the station that he set the fires. He was then transported to Forbes Regional Hospital for a psychological evaluation.
He is charged with two counts each of reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct and one count of arson. He is free on $2,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
He has been expelled from the Pitcairn fire department.
Chief Fouser said he was not surprised when he heard about the charges. He said he had voted against letting Mr. Cole into the fire company and had encouraged the company to do the same. Chief Fouser said Mr. Cole's references did not recommend him.
Officials at Monroeville VFD No. 1 declined to comment. Mr. Cole told Pitcairn he also had been a member of Monroeville VFD No. 2, but that was not true, Chief Fouser said.
Copyright 2008 P.G. Publishing Co.
