Volunteer firefighter arrested for allegedly setting fires, responding to them with his department

A volunteer firefighter has been arrested for allegedly setting fires and then responding to them with his fire department, according to officials in eastern Pennsylvania.

Justin Sholly, a 29-year-old member of the Perseverance Volunteer Fire Company in Souderton, was arrested on Sunday on charges including arson, according to court documents.

The first fire was Friday morning, when the Perseverance Volunteer Fire Company and other agencies responded to a fire at a detached garage/barn, according to the criminal complaint. The blaze was about 50 feet behind a home that had 10 people inside, the complaint said.

Hours later, the Perseverance Volunteer Fire Company responded to a trash fire, the complaint said.

Then early Saturday morning, crews responded to a property where there were multiple fires coming from a barn, a shed, an outhouse, three cars and a gazebo, according to the complaint. The fires were near a home with eight people inside, the document said.

Investigators used license plate reader databases to zero in on Sholly as a suspect, according to the criminal complaint.

Sholly admitted to setting all three fires, according to the court documents. After two of the blazes, Sholly went to his fire department and then responded back to the fire scenes with the other firefighters, documents said.

Sholly said one of the fires was near property he believed belonged to an employer who fired him in 2015, the complaint said.

The Perseverance Volunteer Fire Company said Sholly has been suspended from the department "with intent to remove upon future outcomes."

"The actions described in the criminal charges stand in complete opposition to the core values, mission, and dedication of our company," the fire department said in a statement on Tuesday.

Sholly has not entered a plea.