Volunteer firefighter admits starting Muskogee County fires, authorities say
BY ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff Writer
Friday, August 03, 2012
MUSKOGEE - A volunteer Muskogee County firefighter admitted Thursday to starting seven grass fires the previous weekend, authorities said.
Dustin Davis, 25, a firefighter for Boynton Fire Department, told the department's fire chief that he set the fires to spend more time with his colleagues because he missed the camaraderie he once felt in the military, Muskogee County Sheriff's Deputy Darrin Berry said.
The fires were set in three rural areas around Boynton within hours of each other Sunday night and caused no damage or injuries, Berry said.
After the seventh fire, a man called 911 using Davis' personal phone but identifying himself by a different name. The fire chief, who already suspected arson in previous fires, listened to the 911 tape and recognized Davis' voice, Berry said.
The chief confronted him Thursday.
"What the chief said made him suspicious is that these fires were set by someone knowing something about firefighting," Berry said. "Because he set them without doing any damage."
Davis is expected to be charged with seven counts of arson, Berry said. He was not immediately arrested because the Sheriff's Office was preparing a report to send to the District Attorney's Office and planned to wait until charges were filed, he said.
