Fairfield, PA Firefighter Charged with Setting 11 Wildfires

A New Florence man has been charged with setting 11 wildfires that scorched more than 230 acres this spring, including three stubborn fires atop Laurel Mountain that forced firefighters from four counties to battle treacherous terrain and dangerously dry conditions to extinguish the flames, officials said Friday.

Investigators from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources charged Dylan A. Miller, 18, after interviews with acquaintances led them to question him about his role in the fires, according to a complaint filed at the office of Ligonier District Judge Denise Thiel.

Miller is accused of setting the first fires March 30, then setting additional fires on seven days in April, records indicate. The last fire was set April 18, records show.

The blazes caused more than $35,000 in damage to standing timber, watershed and recreational property, according to the state Bureau of Forestry.

All of the fires were in remote, hilly and densely wooded areas and some were on land leased by the Laughlintown Protective Association — a sportsmen's club — from Mellon National Bank Trust.

Association officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

Several of those interviewed by authorities said they grew suspicious after Miller talked with great interest about the fires, court records indicate.

After that, other findings pointed to Miller as a possible suspect, officials said in the criminal complaint.

At the site of the April 18 fire on Laurel Mountain, officials found remnants of a road flare, then later saw a photo on Miller's Facebook page showing the same general area with a road flare still burning and the wildfire in its early stages, records indicate.

One person told authorities he provided Miller with a gate key to access a remote road leading from a state game lands shooting range to the area where the last wildfire was set, the complaint states.

State Bureau of Forestry Fire Inspector Brian Vinski said he became suspicious when he saw Miller standing at the fire line of that last blaze.

“(Miller) was a member of Fairfield VFD at that time, and they were not dispatched to this wildfire,” Vinski said in the criminal complaint. “(He) was not wearing any firefighting clothing … (he) did not have any wildland firefighting handtools with him. (He) was in a short sleeve T-shirt and baseball hat standing 100 feet from the origin.”

Fairfield Volunteer Fire Department officials could not be reached Friday to determine Miller's status with the department.

Miller was arraigned on Thursday on 10 counts of arson, 11 counts of risking a catastrophe and two counts of reckless burning — all felonies. He remained in jail Friday evening with bail set at $100,000.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 14 before Thiel.

According to state forestry officials, a person determined to have caused a fire is also responsible for covering the costs of extinguishing it, including the calculated cost of aircraft and water tankers used to battle the fire, labor and other expenses.

Miller does not have an attorney listed in court documents.

Patrick Varine is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at 724-850-2862 or [email protected].

———

Visit The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) at www.triblive.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.