By Dominic Adams
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
WHITLEY COUNTY, Ind. — A former probationary volunteer firefighter with the Richland Township Fire Department is accused of setting fire to a vacant Whitley County home.
BJ Odea, 22, of Minnesota, is in the Whitley County Jail on $50,000 bail.
Odea admitted to a state fire investigator that he set fire to a home at 2389 South 900 West in Larwill, according to court documents.
He said he was drinking with two other men before going to the home May 7. Odea told investigators he became angry and started breaking things inside the home, court documents said.
Odea and another man lit an article of clothing on fire in one of the bedrooms and then lit another fire on the back porch of the home. The third man watched as the two set fire to the porch, according to court documents.
The fires were lit with a cigarette lighter and ignited clothes, papers and other ordinary combustibles lying around the house, court documents said.
Odea later went back to the residence after hearing the fire department called out to the scene, according to court documents.
Utilities were not hooked up at the home, which was owned by Odea’s aunt, according to fire Chief Jason Fugate.
“I was the first on the scene,” Fugate said. “As fast as it ignited, it was very suspicious.”
Fugate said Odea was a probationary volunteer firefighter for about a month, but was let go when he failed to meet the department’s requirements. Probationary firefighters can ride along with firefighters to scenes but aren’t allowed to fight fires, Fugate said.
“He didn’t meet our requirements so he was let go,” Fugate said. “To say he was a volunteer fireman, I don’t know if that was 100 percent accurate.”
If convicted of the felony, Odea faces at least 10 years in prison.
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