PRINCETON -— A Mercer County magistrate ruled Wednesday that the case of a Bramwell firefighter charged with helping burn a vacant Bramwell area home had probable cause and forwarded it to the Mercer County Grand Jury.
Aaron Blake Burkett, 25, of Montcalm appeared before Magistrate Sandra Dorsey for a preliminary hearing at the Mercer County Courthouse Annex. Investigators with the West Virginia State Fire Marshal said Jan. 29 that Burkett had been charged with first-degree arson and conspiracy in connection with a Dec. 7, 2018 structure fire on Simmons River Road.
Assistant Fire Marshal R.S. Rodes II testified Wednesday that he was contacted on Dec. 13, 2018 by Chief Aaron Simpkins of the Bramwell Volunteer Fire Department about a suspicious fire at 503 Simmons Avenue in Freeman. The fire was reported 11:15 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2018 when Burkett contacted Mercer County 911 by radio and reported a residential structure fire, and requested that the Bramwell fire department be dispatched.
Rodes said he spoke with Burkett on Jan. 15 and read him his Miranda rights, which were waived. Burkett, who was then an active member of the Bramwell fire department then told him how he was sitting at his home, which is near the Simmons Road structure, with a friend and started talking about fires.
“He (Burkett) told him that he was bored and wanted a call from the fire department,” Rodes said.
Rodes said that Burkett and his friend, who is now deceased, walked to the Simmons River Road house. Burkett stated that he saw his friend, who always had a cigarette lighter with him, go into the house with a paper bag. Nothing but trash and old pieces of furniture were inside the two-story structure.
Burkett and his friend then walked to the former Pop Shop, now the Bramwell Outpost, and watched the home, Rodes tesified. The home’s entire first story was burning when Burkett called 911 and asked for the Bramwell fire department.
Attorney John Byrd, who is representing Burkett, asked Rodes if he did an on-site examination of the home. Rodes replied that he had examined the home’s remains.
“I would consider this a total burn,” Rodes said. “The vast majority of the combustible materials had been consumed by the fire and everything had fallen into the basement.”
Rodes said that the fire’s cause was not determined based on what he found at the scene, and that he was able to make a determination after interviewing Burkett. Byrd asked if the fire scene had been cordoned off to prevent any change of the evidence, and Rodes said this had not been done.
The home was in a state of “disrepair” when it was burned, and had not been inhabited since May 2018, Rodes said.
Dorsey ruled that there was probable cause in the case. Burkett remains free on bond. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Lauren Lynch represented the state.
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