FAIR HAVEN, N.J. — A 19-year-old volunteer firefighter has been charged with setting fire to a shed before returning to help extinguish the blaze.
Asbury Park Press reported that Nicholas Joyce, a volunteer firefighter with the Fair Haven Volunteer Fire Department, was charged with second-degree aggravated arson. According to officials, Joyce set fire to a shed behind a church and then returned to the firehouse.
Once called to the scene, firefighters quickly extinguished the flames on the exterior of the shed. The structure was used by a local Boy Scout troop to store supplies.
Joyce, in addition to being a volunteer firefighter, was a former Boy Scout.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and would be subject to the No Early Release Act, requiring that he serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
He’s free on $5,000 bail pending a future court date.