PARSIPPANY — On Sept. 14, 2008, an assistant fire chief, helped by a youth involved in the Morris County Explorer Program, used an "incendiary device" to set fire to an attached garage on Old Bloomfield Avenue in Parsippany, according to the county prosecutor. When it came time to put out the fire, Jason E. Campbell returned to help, said...
Jason E. Campbell, 33, of Parsippany.PARSIPPANY — On Sept. 14, 2008, an assistant fire chief, helped by a youth involved in the Morris County Explorer Program, used an "incendiary device" to set fire to an attached garage on Old Bloomfield Avenue in Parsippany, according to the county prosecutor.
When it came time to put out the fire, Jason E. Campbell returned to help, said Prosecutor Robert Bianchi.
It allegedly happened again on June 6, 2010. Campbell, who also works as a Morris County sheriff’s officer, deliberately set fire to a vacant house on Ute Avenue and was back on the scene to extinguish it, according to the prosecutor.
Campbell, a 33-year-old Parsippany resident, faces multiple charges, including aggravated arson and official misconduct. There were no injuries reported in either blaze.
Campbell remains under investigation in connection with a series of other fires that occurred in the township, Bianchi said.
The two fires for which Campbell is charged, plus other blazes in the area, prompted Parsippany police to launch an investigation, Bianchi said. The prosecutor declined to give the age or describe the role of the Explorer youth, saying he is a "confidential informant."
Firefighters were "devastated, shattered" to hear about Campbell’s arrest, said Dave Cavalier, fire chief for Parsippany’s all-volunteer District 5, where Campbell was assistant chief and his father, Robert, also serves as a firefighter.
"It’s a shame," Cavalier said. "Jason was a great person otherwise. He was dealing with some demons and that’s the way it came out."
Campbell had been a "dedicated" fire volunteer for about 15 years, starting as a junior member, Cavalier said.
The chief acknowledged the arrest will have a "negative" effect on the firefighters’ reputation, but he added: "The residents of Parsippany are all completely safe."
Campbell had emerged as a hero on at least two occasions. In 2005, he helped organize a dinner to pay medical expenses for a colleague suffering from a genetic disorder that had forced him to use a wheelchair and threatened his life. On Christmas Day in 2009, he helped rescue a pregnant woman whose vehicle was upside-down and submerged underwater.
The Morris County Sheriff’s office Explorer Program, designed to educate and involve youths in law enforcement operations, was costing the county about $40,000 per year and was ended in September because "we just ran out of money," said County Sheriff Edward Rochford. He said the program’s termination had nothing to do with the Campbell incident.
Campbell, who has worked for the sheriff’s department since 2000, is paid $78,824 annually as a court security officer. He remains an employee, but is in an "unpaid status" for a circumstance not related to his arrest, said Staci Santucci, a spokeswoman for Rochford.
Campbell is being held in the Sussex County jail on $50,000 bail.
A 2003 study completed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security found that arson by firefighters "occurs rarely but is nevertheless serious." The number one motive was excitement, the study concluded, because arsonist firefighters can be viewed as heroes when they discover a fire and then put it out.
A "tell-tale sign" of firefighter arson, according to the study, is a sudden increase in "nuisance fires."
"They don’t want to hurt anybody," said Kevin Karwatsky, a Pennsylvania state trooper who helps run a program that aims to raise awareness about arsonist firefighters. "They set vacant houses on fire just so they can respond to be a part of that. Thrill seeking — that would be the best way to describe it."
Staff writer Dan Goldberg contributed to this report.