James A. Bartels, Arson, Ohio 2024

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a shocking case of arson, James A. Bartels, a former fire department administrator and police officer, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for starting 26 fires in Wayne National Forest in 2022.

The fires, which broke out in October and November 2022, created a substantial risk of death or significant injury to the public and firefighters from federal, state, and local governments who were summoned to extinguish the fires.

At the time, Bartels was an administrator at the Greenfield Township Volunteer Fire Department. He also served as a police officer at various law enforcement agencies in Ohio and a 911 dispatcher for Gallia County.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources law enforcement officers observed a truck registered to Bartels near Wayne National Forest on Oct. 29, 2022. Within an hour, a fire was reported in the forest near where Bartels had been.

Bartels admitted to starting the fires with a lighter to ‘give the boys something to do’ and to distract himself from his depression. The defendant was arrested in December 2022 and pleaded guilty in September 2023.

As part of his sentence, Bartels was ordered to pay $638,000 in restitution and register through the Ohio Arson Registry.

U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley imposed the sentence on February 7, 2024.

The case serves as a reminder of the devastating consequences of arson and the importance of holding individuals accountable for their actions.

Bartels, 52, of Rio Grande, Ohio, was sentenced for his role in causing 26 arson fires in the national forest.

The U.S. Forest Service incurred over $638,000 in resulting expenditures, and more than 100 firefighters from several states responded to the fires, which burned approximately 1,300 acres of federal and state land.