Chief copes with fallout after firefighters charged with arson in local blazes
SYDNEY, N.S. — Dave Julian says serial arson charges laid against two volunteer firefighters he worked alongside in rural Cape Breton came as a shock — but it turns out the cases aren’t as rare as he once thought.
“It’s called firefighter arson. It’s not uncommon,” the Florence fire chief said in a telephone interview, referring to arrests in Canada and the United States popping up in media reports in recent years.
The Cape Breton Regional Police announced Friday that 49-year-old Stephen Tremblett of North Sydney and 24-year-old James Clayton MacDonald of Bras d’Or have been charged with arson in connection with a series of fires.
Tremblett was scheduled to appear in court to face 12 arson charges, while MacDonald faces 16 arson charges.