CHARLESTON, WV -- The West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office announced Tuesday that a Mercer County firefighter had been arrested on charges that he intentionally set fire to a residence.
Investigators with the WVSFMO have charged Aaron B. Burkett, 26, with first-degree arson and conspiracy in connection with a fire that occurred at a dwelling on Simmons Avenue on Dec. 7, 2018 in Bramwell, investigators said.
Burkett was arraigned in Mercer County Magistrate Court and released on bond, according to the fire marshal’s press release.
The arrest was made by Assistant State Fire Marshal R.S. Rodes, with help from the Bramwell Volunteer Fire Department and the Bramwell Police Department. The investigation in Burkett’s case is unrelated to the one that recently resulted in arson arrests in McDowell County.
Four McDowell County firefighters were arrested Jan. 17 and charged with conspiracy and arson.
Cody Patterson, 26, of War; James Stutson, 40, of War; Michael Click, 28, of War; and Brandon Short, 22, of Davy were all charged by the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office with first-degree arson and conspiracy, according to a press release from the fire marshal’s office.
The suspects were setting fires “for the excitement of it,” the investigating officer, Assistant State Fire Marshal L.T. Hamrick, said after the arrests. The burned structures were unoccupied and uninsured.
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