Screenshot via NBC News YouTube
A 29-year-old volunteer firefighter has been charged with arson after allegedly setting three fires over 30 hours in late May 2026, then returning to his station to respond to them alongside his crew.
Justin Tyler Sholly, a member of the Perseverance Volunteer Fire Company in Souderton, Pennsylvania, is accused of starting the blazes using fire logs and a lighter.
He told investigators one was set near a property he believed belonged to a former employer who had fired him.
No injuries were reported across any of the incidents.
Sholly faces $500,000 bail after admitting to arson
According to Everett Post, investigators used automatic license plate reader databases to place Sholly’s vehicle near each fire location at the relevant times.
Surveillance footage from the firehouse also put him there shortly before the most serious incident, a Saturday morning fire that started at a former nursery site and spread to a barn, shed, outhouse, gazebo and three vehicles.
After his arrest, Sholly admitted to setting all three fires.
According to K102, he is being held on $500,000 cash bail and faces multiple felony charges, including arson, reckless burning, causing a catastrophe and criminal mischief.
The Perseverance Volunteer Fire Company said the alleged actions stand in “complete opposition to the core values, mission, and dedication” of the department and confirmed Sholly has been suspended with intent to remove him.
It sounds like the plot of a TV show, and in a way it is. The CBS drama Fire Country built an entire season around a secret arsonist working inside a fire crew.
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