Ex-Firefighter Admits Setting Three Nevada Forest Blazes; Boredom, Need for Pay Cited
A former firefighter for the federal Bureau of Land Management has pleaded guilty to setting three wildfires that burned hundreds of acres of national forest in north-central Nevada last summer, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Investigators said Mark E. Morgan of Reno started the fires last August because he was bored and needed the paycheck, according to court documents.
Morgan, 34, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, as well as being required to pay restitution for the damage to federal property, U.S. Atty. Daniel G. Bogden said.
Morgan entered the plea Thursday in U.S. District Court in Reno before Judge Edward C. Reed Jr., Bogden said in a statement Monday. Reed set sentencing for Oct. 23.
Morgan was employed as a member of a BLM fire crew based in Austin, Texas, at the time of the fires. He also had worked fighting fires for the Forest Service.
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