Three Lancaster County, PA, Firefighters Charged with Setting Multiple Fires

Three volunteer Lancaster County firefighters, including a juvenile, were charged after intentionally starting multiple fires last year, police said.

Joshua Lightcap, 23, of Columbia, Mason Howard, 21, of Akron, and a 16-year-old from East Peterburg started fires in October and November, according to court documents filed by East Hempfield police.

Police said Lightcap and the juvenile are also accused of setting fire to an old rail station building being used as storage for Amtrak as well as a shed.

The charges filed show all three were members of the Hempfield Fire Department during the fires. Police said they also helped in extinguishing the flames at the scenes.

All three have been suspended.

An affidavit of probable cause said the following:

Lancaster County dispatch received a 911 call at 3:20 a.m. on Oct. 26 from a firefighter at Hempfield Fire Department that smoke was spotted on State Road in East Hempfield Township.

Police said the firefighter was Lightcap, who reported the fire after he said a “hysterical” woman drove to the fire station to report it.

At the scene, Hempfield fire crews located several fires burning in different locations on a cornfield in the 6100 block of Metzler Road, according to the affidavit. After investigations, they discovered that the fire was intentionally started.

It was later learned that Howard drove Lightcap and the juvenile to the Hempfield fire department after the fires were set, court documents said.

Court documents say Lightcap told police he was sleeping overnight there when the woman came to report the fire, but police said his key card to enter the firehouse was used about 40 minutes before he called 911.

Multiple calls were made for another fire that was reported around midnight on Nov. 2 at an old rail station that was fully engulfed in flames on the 100 block of East Main Street, according to police.

Police said the building had no electrical service at the time and was used as dry storage for Amtrak, and it was determined the fire was set.

In an interview in January, the juvenile told police that Lightcap had used a stick lighter to start the fire, according to court documents.

On Nov. 9 before 8:15 a.m., the fire department received multiple reports about a field fire at the 6100 block of Metzler Road in the area where the October fire has been set, police said.

Multiple fire departments that reported to the scene to assist had difficulties controlling the flames due to the high winds gusting between 30 and 40 mph, according to police.

“The effort to fight the fire was extremely dangerous and the fire risk for this date was high,” court documents said.

A few hours later, Northern Lancaster County Regional Police responded to another brush fire in the 1300 block of Junction Road, Penn Township.

Police said 220 corn fodder bails worth more than $15,000 were destroyed in the fire.

Police said Lightcap and the juvenile were in a pickup truck that Howard drove. The juvenile admitted to using a lighter to start this fire.

Police said a shed on a property at the 200 block of Leisure Road in Landisville that did not have electricity was also set on fire on Thanksgiving. The shed contained various pieces of outdoor equipment and tools, court documents said.

After investigations, the fire chief ruled the fire was intentionally started.

When police interviewed the juvenile, court documents said the juvenile sketched a map of the path they took from where the fire started and back to the fire department. The juvenile told police the fire was intentionally started.

Lightcap has been charged with arson, conspiracy to commit arson, recklessly endangering another person, possessing instruments of crime, and conspiracy to commit agricultural vandalism.

Howard has been charged with arson, conspiracy to commit agricultural vandalism, possessing instruments of crime, recklessly endangering another person, and conspiracy to commit arson.

The 16-year-old has been charged with arson, agricultural vandalism, possessing instruments of crime, recklessly endangering another person, and conspiracy to commit arson.

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