ALTON, N.H. --
An Alton firefighter has been charged with setting four arsons.
Officials said Stark Liedtke, a 22-year veteran of the Alton Fire Department, was fired after the arson charges were filed. Police said he was charged in connection with four fires but confessed to setting 11 fires in Alton and New Durham dating back to 2006.
Police said they were led to Liedtke after a report of a suspicious person on Range Road in Alton on Friday night. Officers found Liedtke in the area, and police said he couldn't explain what he was doing there.
"While they were talking to him, they noticed a very strong odor of gasoline," said prosecutor Melissa Countway Guldbrandsen.
An arson dog got a hit on two bottles of gasoline stashed in the woods, and Liedtke then admitted to the fires, police said. Guldbrandsen said Liedtke also had a box of matches on him.
Liedtke was found near an unoccupied building on New Durham Road that burned in February. That fire was determined to be arson. Police said Liedtke admitted that he was trying to set that building on fire again.
Police said the majority of the fires Liedtke confessed to were in abandoned buildings or were brush fires.
While not admitting the confession is true, defense attorney John Bresaw cited Liedtke's assistance with authorities in arguing for lower bail.
"There's no indication that based on what the state has said, that he has not been cooperative and that he is in any way a threat to leave the state of New Hampshire," Bresaw said.
Bail was set at $30,000 cash, along with $10,000 personal recognizance. Bresaw said it's unlikely that Liedtke would be able to raise that amount of money and would likely remain in jail until a probable cause hearing on March 31.
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