March 13--QUEENSBURY -- A former West Glens Falls Fire Department volunteer will spend eight years in state prison after admitting Wednesday that he set numerous fires at the station in the summer of 2012.
William L. Smith, 23, of Glens Falls, also admitted he set a fire at a previous place of employment, TreePaad Family Entertainment Center, in Malta in Aug. 9, 2012, as part of the plea deal, District Attorney Kate Hogan said.
As prosecutors were preparing the case for trial, they confronted Smith and his attorney with recordings taken at the jail in which Smith allegedly made admissions, Hogan said.
Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree arson and will also have to serve five years post-release supervision and pay a still undetermined amount of restitution.
Officials have said that Smith was a firefighter, member of the department's board of directors and was in charge of maintenance at the station when the fires were set. He was charged with a July 31, 2012 fire that damaged a cable television modem at the department. But he was never charged with the largest of the fires that happened that same day in the department's kitchen, causing $144,000 in damage.
Smith denied he was responsible for that blaze but admitted to setting several fires in several electrical outlets in the preceding weeks, using a barbecue lighter, authorities said.
The fires were initially believed to be the result of electrical problems caused by a lightning strike. The kitchen fire was initially blamed on a microwave oven.
Sentencing will be May 7 before Warren County Judge John Hall.
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