A teen firefighter has been accused of setting a house on fire so he could respond to the blaze himself with fellow firefighters, authorities told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
A fire in the 800 block of East Seventh Avenue in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, was reported about 4 p.m. Monday with Allegheny County Fire Marshal's office stated that it was intentionally started in the kitchen are, the newspaper reported.
The home was the former residence of volunteer firefighter Patrick Gillis, 18, the Post-Gazette said. Witnesses saw Gillis in the area about an hour before the fire started and then saw him return as a firefighter with the Pioneer Hose Company, according to a complaint.
The Post-Gazette said police questioned Gillis at the scene and took him into custody. After additional questioning, Gillis allegedly told authorities that he put a lighter and some pieces of paper in a microwave, turned it on and then left, the complaint said, the newspaper noted.
Damaged to the home, which was a duplex owned by Riverstone Lofts and Apartments, was estimated at $150,000, the Post-Gazette said.
Chief Rick Jones of the Pioneer Hose Company told WTAE-TV that there had been several suspicious trash fires near Gillis' home since the teenager joined the department in December. Jones said that 911 phone records showed that the last trash fire was reported from Gillis' cell phone, the television station said.
"Once we got his number and realized it was his number, then we pulled him into our office and confronted him," Jones told WTAE-TV. "Once he denied it, then we notified the fire marshal's office and said, 'Hey, we think we got something suspicious going on here.
"We just had suspicions. Until you have proof, then you really don't want to act on it because you hate to do something like that to a young kid, you know," Jones added.
Police told WTAE-TV that Gillis allegedly admitted setting the fire because he just wanted to respond to one, something that was disputed by his mother Dana Gillis.
"I'm a mother," Dana Gillis told the television station, adding that he joined the fire department to save lives. "You're supposed to believe in your children. What mother or parent wouldn't believe in their child?
"When you look at it, and you hear that your own child has done this, it changes the whole outlook on things," Dana Gillis continued.
Patrick Gillis, who was being held in the Allegheny County Jail for formal arraignment on a charge of arson is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing May 30, WTAE-TV said. The Post-Gazette said bail was set at $25,000.
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