Pa. firefighter charged with arson sent messages suggesting department prepare for blaze: report
Updated May 14, 2021;
A former firefighter from Westmoreland County was arrested this week, accused of setting an abandoned mobile home on fire and warning a neighboring fire department they might get called in.
Shawn Mann, 25, is charged with felony arson and misdemeanor reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, according to online court dockets.
TribLive reports crews were called to Brookville Road in North Huntingdon Township around 11:16 p.m. on April 27.
Citing the affidavit filed against Mann, TribLive reported that Mann admitted to investigators that he started the fire.
Concern grew when the chief of the Irwin Fire Department, which responded to the call and was Manns’ former firehouse, discovered Mann was making comments about his involvement in the fire.
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Irwin fire Chief Justin Mochar said he told North Huntingdon police about firefighter Shawn Mann’s possible involvement in a suspicious April 27 blaze.
Mann, 25, of North Huntingdon was arraigned on charges of arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment filed by township police in connection with the 11:16 p.m. fire at an abandoned mobile home at 1190 Brookville Road. He admitted setting the fire in an interview with investigators Tuesday, according to court documents filed by police Sgt. Nicholas Dreistadt.
In a statement, Mochar said that while fighting the fire he heard from other firefighters at the scene that Mann may have made statements “regarding his possible involvement in the trailer fire.”