OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine — Fire Chief Ricky Plummer has been charged with arson and placed on administrative leave in connection with a grass fire at the Jordan Creek Marsh, officials said Saturday.
Plummer, 59, was arrested around 2 a.m. Saturday and charged with one count of arson in connection with the April 15 fire that burned 42 acres at the marsh. More than 100 firefighters from southern Maine fought the blaze, officials said.
About a dozen investigators from the fire marshal’s office and the forest service arrived in Old Orchard Beach with search warrants Friday afternoon and seized computers at the fire station and in the fire chief’s town-owned car, along with Plummer’s cellphone. Then Plummer was interviewed.
Afterward, investigators consulted with the York County district attorney’s office, which authorized the arson charge against Plummer, who was arrested at his mother-in-law’s home in Scarborough and then taken to the Cumberland County Jail. Plummer’s first court appearance likely will be determined the first of the week.
His bail was set at $10,000.
The fire department command staff will assume Plummer’s responsibilities until the case is resolved, Town Manager Larry Mead said in a statement Saturday.
“I have full confidence in the skills, dedication and commitment of the
command staff, and of all the men and women of the Old Orchard Beach Fire Department,” Mead said. “They will continue to serve and respond around the clock seven days a week to provide fire and rescue services to the people of Old Orchard Beach.”
BDN writer Nick Sambides Jr. contributed to this report.