Ex-Ohio 911 dispatcher who admitted to starting forest fires gets 18 months in prison
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former southeastern Ohio fire official was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $638,000 after he admitted to starting over two dozen fires with a lighter in Wayne National Forest, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
James Bartels, who served as an administrator for the Greenfield Township Volunteer Fire Department, said in an interview with law enforcement that he ignited the spate of fires to "give the boys something to do" and distract himself from depression, court records said. The series of blazes in 2022 scorched about 1,300 acres of land and prompted a costly response of over 100 firefighters from several states, according to prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley sentenced Bartels to a year and a half in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution to the U.S. Forest Service for fire damage. Bartels was also required to register through Ohio's arson registry.
Federal data shows most wildland fires are caused by humans, both intentionally and mistakenly. In Ohio's Wayne National Forest, court records said more than 40 suspected arson fires were lit in 2022, and Bartels admitted to causing 26 of them.
Court records: Fire official sparked forest blazes for months
While working for the Greenfield Fire Department, investigators said Bartels "discovered" an unreported fire shortly after midnight in April 2022, the first blaze listed in the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
Six months later, an Ohio Department of Natural Resources law enforcement officer spotted a truck registered to Bartels near the forest. Court records said within an hour, a fire was reported.
Bartels also served as a police officer at several law enforcement agencies and as a 911 dispatcher for Gallia County. Court records say he resigned from the dispatch position on Nov. 8, 2022. Within days of his resignation, at least 17 fires were set.
A witness spotted Bartels' truck near where a fire started within minutes of ignition in at least two instances, according to the complaint. The infotainment system in Bartels' truck verified that he was near several blazes when they started, court filings said.
Paste BN reached out to a public defender listed in court records for comment.
Most wildland fires are caused by humans
Humans are the biggest cause of wildland fires, according to federal data, which includes the ignition from unattended campfires, burning debris, discarded cigarettes, and intentional arson.
In 2024 alone, the National Interagency Fire Center tracked nearly 58,000 human-caused wildfires across the United States, accounting for 89% of all wildfires. In terms of size, human-caused wildfires accounted for a little over half of the 8.9 million acres that burned last year.
One month into 2025, the center tracked over 2,100 wildfires that burned 64,038 acres. The agency said it is the most acres burned during the month of January in the past decade. While there was generally low fire activity across the U.S. last month, the wind-whipped blazes in California accounted for the unusually high acreage.
Monday's sentencing also follows the devastating wildfires in Southern California that killed 29 people and burned over 16,000 structures. Residents have filed lawsuits against utilities accused of igniting or contributing to the spread of the fires, which blazed for weeks amid high winds, dry vegetation, and low humidity.