COLUMBUS — A fire department administrator and former 911 dispatcher was charged federally with crimes related to at least 24 arson fires since spring 2022 in Wayne National Forest, according to a press released from Kenneth Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
James A. Bartels, 50, of Patriot, Ohio, was arrested Dec. 20 and appeared in federal court in Columbus. Bartels is an administrator at the Greenfield Township Volunteer Fire Department. He also served as a 911 dispatcher for Gallia County.
The announcement came after a busy fall fire season throughout southeast Ohio, including the Kimble Complex Fire that burned more than 1,300 acres in November. It was the largest wildifre in the Wayne National Forest history.
According to an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint, Ohio Department of Natural Resources law enforcement officers observed a truck registered to Bartels near Wayne National Forest, Oct. 29, on Dry Ridge Road. Within an hour, a fire was reported in the forest near Dry Ridge Road and Cauley Creek Road. In the days after Bartels’s Nov. 8 resignation from working as a 911 dispatcher for Gallia County, at least 17 fires were lit.
Bartels was seen at two separate locations in the vicinity of multiple fire starts within minutes of their ignition. The affidavit details that in a law enforcement interview, Bartels admitted to starting the fires with a lighter to “give the boys something to do” and to distract himself from depression. He identified 24 arson fires for which he was responsible. Bartels is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in U.S. District Court, Jan. 3, in Columbus.
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