Sentenced: Former fire dept. admin started 26 national forest fires to ’give the boys something to do’

A former Rio Grande, Ohio fire department administrator and police officer learned his fate for setting 26 fires in the Wayne National Forest.

On Feb. 10, James Bartels was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.

According to prosecutors, Bartels started the fires throughout the year of 2022. Court documents state the fires were responded to by more than 100 firefighters from multiple states, they burned more than 1,300 acres of federal land and resulted in more than $638,000 being spent.

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Why did he do it, you ask? To “give the boys something to do,” according to his own words, and to distract himself from his depression.

Bartels was arrested in December of 2022. According to court documents, multiple incidents led to his capture. In one, Ohio Department of Natural Resources employees saw his truck in an area of the Wayne National Forest, and an hour later, a fire was reported in the area he was sighted in.

Additionally, he was seen at two separate locations minutes before a fire was started in those areas. His truck’s information system also placed him at the locations of the fires.

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