Volunteer Fireman Arrested For Arson

A young volunteer fireman remained in the Washington County Jail pending a July 8 preliminary hearing on 11 counts of intentionally setting fires so he could be paid for fighting them.

Keith Porter, 19, of Weiser, said in a signed confession that he began setting fires last summer so he could earn extra money for college, Sheriff Jim Nelson said.

Rural firemen are paid $5 an hour when fighting fires.

Porter, who had been a volunteer for about a year, faces a maximum penalty of 115 years in prison and $225,000 in fines for the November fire that destroyed an onion storage shed and 10 grass fires around the western Idaho community of Weiser, about 70 miles from Boise.

No injuries were reported in any of the alleged arsons.

Nelson said that in his written confession Porter apologized and expressed remorse for the trouble he caused. Porter said he hoped he would be able to turn his life around, according to the sheriff.

Porter was arrested Sunday night as part of the crew mopping up a suspicious fire south of the city. It was one of three fires officials suspect Porter set that weekend.

State and local officials had been investigating the spate of suspicious fires for months before Weiser Rural Fire Chief Nate Marvin said eyewitness reports and evidence at the various scenes led them to begin looking internally.

Marvin said the majority of fires were started with road flares.