Two volunteer Warner firefighters were arrested Wednesday on arson complaints.
Warner Police Chief Terry Thompson said Tobey Hadley Jr., 19, and Robert Hill, 20, were arrested in connection with several fires allegedly set in Muskogee and possibly McIntosh counties.
"Apparently back in the summer and possibly even earlier than that, they were setting some grass fires," Thompson said. "And there was one that burned an abandoned, dilapidated house."
Thompson said the fires were all set in areas where Hadley and Hill assumed no one would be injured. It's unknown how many fires were set, Thompson said, but the Muskogee County/City Detention Facility showed Hadley and Hill were booked in on:
--Seven counts of first-degree arson.
--Embezzlement.
--Unauthorized use of a credit card.
"To my knowledge no one was hurt in any of the fires," Thompson said.
"It just resulted in cost and time that was placed upon our fire department, and other departments that may have responded to the fires."
Thompson said the joint investigation between the Warner Police Department and the Muskogee County Sheriff's Office began in July.
It's the second time a Muskogee County firefighter was arrested on arson complaints this year.
Dustin Davis, 25, a Boynton firefighter, admitted to law enforcement in August to setting a series of fires in Boynton. Davis has a preliminary hearing set for 9 a.m. Nov. 2.
Thompson said it's unfortunate a hard-working fire department is faced with losing two of their own in such a manner.
"It's my understanding they no longer work (for the Warner Fire Department,)" Thompson said. "It's just unnecessary. I know our fire department is disappointed, and their morale has been damaged, because they just don't understand why they would do this."
Thompson said the investigation into the fires is ongoing.
Copyright 2012 - Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
