GALLIA COUNTY, Ohio (WCHS) — 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 ...

police officer and Gallia County 911 administrator has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $638,000 in restitution for setting 26 fires in Wayne National Forest in 2022.

Governor Mike Braun urges the United States Forest Service (USFS) to immediately withdraw the Buffalo Springs Restoration ...

GALLIA COUNTY, Ohio — A former fire department administrator and police officer was sentenced to 18 months in prison for starting dozens of arson fires in Wayne National Forest three years ago.

James A. Bartels, 52, of Rio Grande, Ohio, said he started 26 fires in Wayne National Forest in 2022 to “give the boys something to do” and to distract himself from depression. According to ...

A former southeastern Ohio fire department administrator will serve 18 months in federal prison after admitting to starting dozens of wildfires in Wayne National Forest. U.S. District Court Judge ...

Gov. Mike Braun is urging the United States Forest Service (USFS) to withdraw the Buffalo Springs Restoration Project.

Wayne County — A fire destroyed a long-standing inn in Wayne County Tuesday morning. Flames broke out at the Inn at Starlight Lake in Starlight shortly after 6 a.m. Officials say crews had a ...

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. While working for the Greenfield Fire ...

James Bartels, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of timber set afire ... Bartels and he admitted to starting 26 fires in the Wayne National Forest using a lighter, officials said.