By Jennifer Rodriguez
The Charlotte Observer
PERRY COUNTY, Ohio — A former Ohio fire department administrator was sentenced to prison after officials said he intentionally set 26 fires.
James Bartels, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of timber set afire, according to court documents.
In February, he was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, according to a Feb. 10 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
McClatchy News reached out to Bartels’ attorney for comment but did not immediately hear back.
In 2022, Bartels was working as an administrator for the Greenfield Township Volunteer Fire Department, according to a criminal complaint.
That October, a fire was reported and an officer with Ohio Natural Resource Law Enforcement reported a Ford truck, registered to Bartels, in the area of the fire, court documents said.
On Nov. 8, 2022, 17 fires were set, officials said. This was days after Bartels resigned from the Galia County 911 dispatch center, according to court documents.
A witness reported that Bartels’ Ford truck was seen near two of the fire sites “within minutes of their ignition,” the complaint said.
In December, investigators spoke with Bartels and he admitted to starting 26 fires in the Wayne National Forest using a lighter, officials said. He told authorities he started the fires to “give the boys something to do” and to distract himself from his depression, according to the complaint.
“In total, more than 100 firefighters from several states responded to the fires. Approximately 1,300 acres of federal and state land were burned, and the U.S. Forest Service incurred more than $638,000 in resulting expenditures,” officials said.
Bartels was also ordered to pay $638,000 in restitution and register through the Ohio Arson Registry.
Wayne National Forest is in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio.
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