Volunteer Firefighter, 18, Charged With Setting 7 Fires In Rural North Fla.

Friday, May 25th 2007, 7:35 pm

By: News On 6

STARKE, Fla. (AP) _ An 18-year-old volunteer firefighter was arrested on charges of setting seven rural fires that burned 13 acres and an abandoned trailer home, officials said Friday.

Chad Michael Burchfield, a senior at Bradford County High School, was arrested Thursday on six counts of reckless burning of lands and one count of arson to a structure.

Burchfield confessed to setting the fires when he was arrested, sheriff's spokesman Lt. Gail Russell said. The north Florida blazes have been extinguished.

Burchfield made his first court appearance Friday and was ordered held on $700,000 bail. Officials did not know if he had a lawyer.

The reckless burning charges carry a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison on each count. The arson count is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The fires were not associated with a north Florida blaze that has scorched 23 square miles since it was ignited by lightning on May 8. It is now 90% contained.