By SHARON MONTAGUE

Salina Journal

A Saline County volunteer firefighter is accused of setting three fires in Saline County -- one of which got close to Southeast of Saline School.

Michael A. Russell, 18, Gypsum, a volunteer for Rural Fire District No. 1, was arrested Wednesday on three counts of arson. He was being held in the Saline County Jail and is expected to make his first appearance at 8:30 a.m. today in Saline County District Court.

Russell is accused of setting a Wednesday fire that burned about 90 acres of Conservation Reserve Program grass owned by John Swisher in the 5000 block of East Assaria Road; a Wednesday fire that burned about 20 acres of CRP grass owned by Errol Redden in the 10900 block of South Niles Road; and an April 7 fire that burned about 20 acres of CRP grass owned by Bernie Johnson at Lapsley and Niles roads. Total damage was estimated at $3,900.

Saline County Sheriff Glen Kochanowski said the fire on Assaria Road was headed straight toward Southeast of Saline School before the wind shifted.

"If the wind had stayed the way it was, it could have affected the school," Kochanowski said.

Dickinson County authorities want to talk to Russell about an April 7 fire in the area of Tinkler and Solomon roads, Kochanowski said, and McPherson County authorities want to talk to him about a Tuesday grass fire at Maxwell Wildlife Refuge.

Just didn't seem right

Kochanowski said Russell was among the firefighters fighting all of the blazes. His fellow firefighters became suspicious of him, Kochanowski said, because he arrived at the station so quickly after the fire calls came in or he was the one calling in the fires.

Pete Kendrick, assistant chief of Rural Fire District No. 1, said firefighters were suspicious because of where the fires started.

He said grass fires can be caused by any number of things, from discarded cigarettes to a wheel bearing going out on a car.

"Some of these started near a road, and some didn't," Kendrick said. "People who were involved with the fires were noticing some oddities about the fires and other things. There were suspicions they had."

Kendrick didn't want to speak specifically about those suspicions, saying the fire district's board of directors hadn't had time yet to discuss the situation.

Kendrick said Russell had been a volunteer firefighter with Rural Fire District 1, which has about 40 firefighters, for three or four months.

His family had lived in the Gypsum area for many years.

"I think he (Michael Russell) was born and raised here," Kendrick said. "I've known the family for over 30 years, and I didn't see it."

Not unheard of

David Finger, director of government relations for the National Volunteer Fire Council in Washington, D.C., said it's not unheard of for a firefighter to be arrested for setting fires.

"We have no statistics on how frequent it is for firefighters to commit arson," Finger said, "but we know that any time a firefighter commits arson and is caught doing it, it's put in the paper, so you hear about it."

Firefighters might start fires because they like to start fires or because they like to put them out, he said.

His association advises volunteer departments to check the criminal backgrounds of people who wish to volunteer, before allowing them to join the department. -

"Most of the departments that are our members do background checks," he said. "We've provided resources, in the past, for departments looking to contract background checks."

He said most departments, though, just have their local police and sheriff's departments check records, and they don't do nationwide searches.

"But the thing is, if someone has never had a conviction on that, a background check isn't going to help you," Finger said.

He said some departments do psychological testing in addition to background checks, but that is expensive and not prevalent, especially with volunteer departments.

nReporter Sharon Montague can be reached at 822-1411 or by e-mail at smontague@salina.com.