Former 911 dispatcher lit Ohio forest fires ‘to give the boys something to do,’ feds say

A volunteer fire department administrator and former 911 dispatcher admitted to starting several fires in a national forest “to give the boys something to do and to distract himself from depression,” according to federal authorities.

Now the 50-year-old man from Patriot, Ohio, is charged in federal court.

James A. Bartels, a Greenfield Township Volunteer Fire Department administrator and former Gallia County dispatcher, was arrested Tuesday, Dec. 20, and charged in connection to 24 arson fires in Wayne National Forest, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.

His defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Dec. 21.

In a probable cause statement, a U.S. Forest Service officer said he was tasked with investigating over 40 wildfires lit on federal land and administered by Wayne National Forest since the spring.

On April 21, Bartels reported a fire at 12:29 a.m., authorities said. Then on Oct. 29, about an hour before a fire was reported in the forest, an officer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources saw Bartels’ truck in the area, according to court records.

On Nov. 8, within days of Bartels resigning from his role as a 911 dispatcher, authorities said someone started at least 17 fires. An eye witness identified Bartels’ truck near two of the fire locations minutes before they were ignited, officials said.

Bartels was interviewed on Dec. 8, officials said, and he admitted to starting several of the Wayne National Forest fires with a lighter.

Authorities said they gave him a map with the markings of suspected arson fires and asked Bartels to mark the ones he was responsible for.

Bartels drew check marks next to 26 fires — meaning he admitted starting those — and drew “Xs” near nine fires, according to the probable cause statement.

Authorities received infotainment system data from Bartels’ truck on Dec. 19 that showed it was in the area of 24 fires, officials said. In most cases, he was in the vicinity of the fire locations about 1 to 2 hours before they were reported.

“Willfully committing arson is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison,” officials said.

Bartels has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 3.

Wayne National Forest is in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio.

This story was originally published December 21, 2022 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Former 911 dispatcher lit Ohio forest fires ‘to give the boys something to do,’ feds say."