Authorities in New Mexico arrested Terlton's fire chief, who had been sought in an embezzlement investigation.
Charles Dean Badgwell, 54, and girlfriend Janet Lynne Kirby, 58, are awaiting extradition to Pawnee County after they were arrested in Deming, N.M., on Friday, said Pawnee County Sheriff Mike Waters.
Pawnee County prosecutors filed embezzlement charges against Badgwell and Kirby on Friday, court records show.
Badgwell was named a person of interest in an investigation involving money missing from the Terlton Volunteer Fire Department.
The sheriff's office opened an investigation into the department's finances Sept. 8, after they received "allegations of impropriety," Waters told the Tulsa World in a previous interview.
"We're excited, but we still have a long way to go," Waters said. "Now due process will have to take effect."
Badgwell has been incarcerated twice in Oklahoma, according to Department of Corrections records. He was sentenced to four years in the mid-1980s on a stolen property conviction and was sentenced to one year in 2002 for false impersonation.
Wildfires in and around Terlton, which is about 30 miles west of Tulsa, destroyed 45 homes and more than 50 other structures in early August.
Lauri Allen is listed as the department's chief on its Facebook page. The department has about 10 firefighters and six auxiliary members.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
