In December, investigators spoke with Bartels and he admitted to starting 26 fires in the Wayne National Forest using a lighter, officials said. He told authorities he started the fires to “give the boys something to do” and to distract himself from his depression, according to the complaint.

A former Ohio Fire Administrator will spend time in jail after he started dozens of arson fires in a national forest.

James Bartels, a former fire department administrator, claimed he set the fires to "give the boys something to do."

A former Gallia County, Ohio, fire department worker and police officer was sentenced to prison Monday for starting dozens of fires in Wayne National Forest, pr