Nathan Willison
LNP, Lancaster, Pa.
(TNS)
Feb. 19—The three Hempfield volunteer firefighters arraigned on arson charges Tuesday fought the fires they are now charged with intentionally starting with a lighter, according to a criminal complaint filed by East Hempfield Township police.
Joshua Lightcap, 23, of Columbia; Mason Howard, 21, of Akron; and a 16-year-old from East Petersburg face multiple arson charges in connection with five fires started in East Hempfield and Penn Township in October and November.
According to an affidavit filed Friday by police, investigators had suspicions about the fires shortly after they began.
On Oct. 26, Lancaster County-Wide Communications received a call from Lightcap reporting a fire in a field on the 6000 block of Metzler Road in East Hempfield Township. Lightcap told dispatchers a “hysterical” woman had driven to the firehouse, where he had been sleeping, and told him about the fire.
Hempfield volunteer firefighters including Lightcap, Howard and the 16-year-old were sent to the scene to fight the fire. East Hempfield Fire Chief John Kottmyer determined the fire needed to be investigated, as it appeared to originate from several locations in the field.
Police later determined Lightcap was meant to be sleeping overnight at the Hempfield firehouse, however his key card was used to enter the building less than 35 minutes before he reported the fire.
Between Nov. 2 and Nov. 28, Hempfield firefighters, including the three individuals charged, responded to four additional suspicious fires in East Hempfield and Penn townships, including a Nov. 8 fire in the same field as the Oct. 26 call.
Fire officials reported that this fire occurred during high winds reaching 30 to 40 mph, and numerous fire departments had to be called due to the increased risk of the fire spreading.
Another fire, started Nov. 9 on the 1300 block of Junction Road in Penn Township, destroyed 220 corn fodder bales, causing over $15,000 worth of damage.
Police and fire officials used K9 units to determine the origin point of the suspicious fires and concluded they were intentionally set.
A day before the final fire was set, police obtained a warrant for the location data of Lightcap’s cellphone and determined he was in the area of multiple fires at the time they were set.
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Suspicion from the fire department
Investigators interviewed other volunteers at the fire department who said Lightcap and the 16-year-old had been away from the firehouse at the time of an early-morning shed fire on the 200 block of Leisure Road in Landisville on Nov. 28.
According to police, in December, Lightcap requested a meeting with Kottmyer, during which he complained that other volunteers had accused him of starting the fires. Lightcap said other firefighters were saying whenever he is around the firehouse, a fire starts.
In January, police interviewed Lightcap and the 16-year-old. Police say they admitted to starting the fires using a lighter before returning to the fire station. They told police that Howard had driven them in his pickup truck to start the fires on Metzler Road and Junction Road and had been involved in starting the fires on Metzler Road.
Investigators obtained text messages between Lightcap and the 16-year-old in which they discussed previous arson investigations, resulting in the 16-year-old saying, “I hope we never get caught,” according to the affidavit.
Police say Lightcap also searched on the internet for, “can you clean fingerprints” and “flammable stuff” around the time of the fires.
A request for comment from an attorney representing Lightcap was not returned Wednesday.
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