CHELSEA (AP) – A former volunteer firefighter stands accused of setting a pair of fires.

Nathan Price, 19, was a member of the Chelsea Volunteer Fire Department before his arrest on Dec. 27 by the state fire marshal’s office. He has been held since then at the Kennebec County Jail on $20,000 cash bail.

Price, who’s charged with two counts of arson, is accused of setting fire to a car and an abandoned mobile home, said Sgt. Ken Grimes of the fire marshal’s office. Investigators are also looking into two other fires.

Property damage is estimated at between $20,000 and $30,000, but Grimes said there also is a cost associated with sending fire crews to respond to emergencies that shouldn’t have happened. In addition to manpower and transportation costs, there also is the potential for injury any time a firefighter responds to a fire.

“Every time you have an intentionally set fire, you are always going to have danger to another person, and that’s the firefighter,” Grimes said.


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