By Bonnie L. Cook
The Philadelphia Inquirer
LIMERICK TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A former Limerick Township firefighter was arrested and charged with setting three arson fires there during the first half of 2010, Montgomery County officials announced Tuesday.
Douglas Gauger, 21, an ex-volunteer fireman for the Linfield Fire Company, told investigators he set fires at Trinley River Park, at Western Center for Technical Studies, and on Benner Road, then responded with the company to fight them.
He was arrested by Montgomery County detectives Dec. 7 in West Virginia, where he had moved in April, and was charged with setting a fire at a home on Possum Hollow Road in Limerick Township. No one was injured in any of the fires, officials said.
The fires, which occurred between Jan. 17 and July 1, destroyed a picnic pavilion at Trinley River Park and leveled two garages at the vo-tech school. A Benner Road home was damaged, and a barn was burned at the Possum Hollow Road property, officials said.
Investigators cracked the case after Gauger showed a friend burns on his leg, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. Gauger claimed he sustained the burns fighting the vo-tech fire. But Limerick Fire Marshal Rumler told investigators no firefighters were hurt during that fire because they wore protective “bunker” pants - heavy overalls trousers, Ferman said.
Gauger moved south in April after officials made an arrest in several other suspicious fires. Tracked by detectives to Raleigh County, W. Va., he owned up under questioning to setting the three additional fires, Ferman said.
Gauger was extradited to Montgomery County on Dec. 21 to face charges in the Possum Hollow case. On Tuesday, Gauger was arraigned before District Judge Walter F. Gadzicki on arson and related charges in connection with the three other fires.
Gadzicki ordered Gauger held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility with bail set at $250,000. A preliminary hearing will be held at 10 a.m. Jan. 13.
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