June 19 -- TICONDEROGA, NY -- The 18-year-old accused of burning down a barn Monday was a firefighter.
Riley J. OHara has been suspended from Ticonderoga Volunteer Fire Department, pending a police investigation into a number of arson charges, Fire Chief Matthew Watts said.
OHara was arrested Monday and charged with third-degree arson, a felony, and fifth-degree arson, a misdemeanor.
He allegedly set fire to the barn at 7 McCaughin Road and is suspected in connection with four grass fires in the area over the last couple of months, Ticonderoga Police Department Chief Mike Mawn said.
Firefighters responded to the fully involved barn fire around 12:40 a.m., and the 186-by-36-foot structure was already collapsing.
The building and its contents were a total loss, the fire chief said.
Maw said the fire was “immediately determined to be of a suspicious nature.”
Mark Belden, a patrolman with the Police Department, declined to say how the fire was started, saying the incident was still under investigation.
That was the second blaze on the property in less than a month.
Firefighters were also there May 26 when they stopped a garage fire from spreading to the attached house.
That blaze was deemed accidental, Watts said.
No one was home during either fire, he noted.
OHara was arraigned in Ticonderoga Town Court and sent to Essex County Jail without bail.
___ (c)2018 the Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) Visit the Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) at pressrepublican.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
