Former New Hampshire Chief Jailed for Setting Blaze
Source Sun Journal, Lewiston, Maine
PARIS, N.H. -- A former New Hampshire fire chief who set a fire in a Porter barn on Christmas Eve pleaded guilty to arson Monday in Oxford County Superior Court.
Bradley W. Eldridge, 51, of West Ossipee, N.H., was sentenced to three years with all but 90 days suspended for setting a fire in the barn of William Day Jr. on Porterfield Road in Porter.
Day wasn't home, but a family across the street called the fire in and was able to extinguish it before firefighters arrived, according to Assistant District Attorney Joseph O'Connor. No one was injured and the animals in the barn survived.
O'Connor said Day was dating Eldridge's ex-wife, and that Eldridge had made threats that he would "make Mr. Day suffer." A camera caught a man pulling up in a car that looked like Eldridge's car and entering the barn just before the fire was reported.
When questioned, Eldridge admitted to setting the fire, and admitted he had been drinking heavily when he decided to start the fire, O'Connor said.
Eldridge must pay $1,000 restitution to Day for damage to his barn, and is not allowed contact with Day.
Eldridge was the fire chief in West Ossipee, N.H., until March 28, 2011, when the West Ossipee Fire Precinct Commission removed Eldridge "for cause" during an executive session, according to the Carroll County Independent.
Copyright 2012 - Sun Journal, Lewiston, Maine
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
