PITTSBURGH - A western Pennsylvania volunteer firefighter has been charged with setting a fire at his home and then helping fight it.
State police say 18-year-old Kenneth Roy Beeman admitted setting the fire early Wednesday in the basement of his home in Boswell because he wanted to be a hero for putting it out. He was charged with arson and causing or risking a catastrophe.
No one was injured in the fire.
Police say Beeman was recently accepted as a junior firefighter with the Boswell volunteer department.
Beeman was being held at the Somerset County jail. It was not known if he had an attorney. His preliminary hearing was scheduled for Jan. 10.
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Is there something in the drinking water, or in the air over PA that makes young and restless "pretend/wannabe" firefighters start fires for the purpose listed in the above story?
This is not the first time I have read stories about firefighters doing this, and sadly - it probably won't be the last. WTF! Seems to me (sorry my memory might be dropping slightly) that PA has been in the news recently for this stuff. Not to single out PA specifically, but just sayin! I know this seems to be a problem in many other places, including here in Canada.
So, just in case my humble little opinion COULD, WOULD, SHOULD have ANY impact on kids thinking of starting a fire just for the action to help put it out, my advice is. DON'T! I suspect it will be meaningless, but at least I tried!
Permalink Reply by Pat on January 6, 2011 at 12:12pm
It IS a Pennsylvania thing. part of is because they have more volunteers than most states and they recruit young. What sets THIS retard apart from most is that he set HIS OWN HOUSE on fire. DUHHHHHHHH
As per usual, I am a lil bit behind the times! lol I just found Jack's recent thread, and once again ( doesn't surprize me) he really outdid this thread. His was about the ENTIRE FIRE DEPARTMENT behing arrested for arson lol . It was NOT in PA this time.
Considering York County has like 68 fire departments. This is just ridiculous though. I mean it makes everyone look bad when people do this. I just hate to hear about people like this because of the after effects on everyone else.