Volunteer firefighter arrested for setting blazes and responding to them with his own department during 30-hour arson spree
Gave himself a job.A Pennsylvania volunteer firefighter allegedly set three fires in less than two days — then put out the blazes with his own department, according to authorities and reports.Justin Sholly, 29, was hit with a slew of charges for setting multiple fires in Souderton and Franconia in late May while simultaneously serving as a member of the Perseverance Volunteer Fire Company, according to court documents.An investigation was launched after the Perseverance Volunteer Fire Company responded to a pile of logs lit aflame near a road in Fraconia just after midnight last Friday, according to filings obtained by NBC News.Just hours later, firefighters discovered another blaze at a detached garage and barn only 50 feet from two homes full of people in Souderton, documents alleged.The following morning, just after 4:30 a.m., smoke-eaters responded to a large structure fire in Souderton and found a raging inferno that engulfed a barn, three vehicles, a shed, an outhouse, and a gazebo, the outlet reported.Investigators quickly determined the incidents were connected and that the fires had been intentionally set.
They discovered a black 2015 Ford Edge had been traveling near all three crime scenes, the criminal complaint stated.Police tracked down Sholly as the vehicle’s owner and uncovered surveillance footage of him driving the car into the Perseverance Fire Company parking lot just a few minutes before firefighters arrived at the fire in Fraconia, documents stated.Police who interviewed him on Sunday allegedly found a fire starter log in his trunk compartment, wood logs behind the driver’s seat, and a lighter in the front passenger seat, NBC reported.The firebug firefighter allegedly admitted to detectives that he set all three fires in the arson-filled rampage — and claimed the final blaze in Souderton was set near the home of his former boss, who fired him from his job in 2025, the complaint alleged.
Sholly also said he responded to the scenes of tw...