IOLA, Kan. (AP) A 19-year-old volunteer firefighter from Iola is suspected of setting a series of arson fires in a southeast Kansas county.
Allen County Undersheriff Bryan Murphy says the firefighter was arrested Tuesday while working at a grass fire. He could face 21 counts of arson in fires around Carlyle and Geneva townships.
The Iola Register reports that 28 arson fires have been investigated in Allen County in the past month.
Murphy said investigators believe only one person is responsible for most of the fires but they haven’t ruled out that others may have been involved.
One of the fires resulted in the loss of 250 big bales of hay, valued at $25,000, and another destroyed a vacant farm house.
