Maryland Firefighter Charged With Setting Fire to Neighbor's Home

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. -- A volunteer firefighter with the Gaithersburg-Washington Grove VFD (Montgomery County Station 708) has been charged with arson.

19-year-old Thomas Walter was arrested following a fire under the rear deck of his neighbor's townhome on Club Lake Road around 10:00 PM on Tuesday night. A spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service says when the first engine arrived, Walter told the crew he had already put out the fire.

Fire investigators already had Walter on their radar screen after he was on the scene of a March 24 fire that destroyed a utility shed at the Montgomery Village Golf Course. That fire also occurred around 10:00 PM and caused $50,000 in damage.

From their previous contact with Walter, investigators responded to Tuesday's fire already knowing that Walter lived on the same street. According to a press release issued Wednesday evening Thomas Walter initially gave fire investigators inconsistent statements, but eventually confessed to both fires.

According to the press release, Walter was also considered a suspect in a series of nuisance fires in the same area over the past six weeks.

Thomas Walter is charged with one count of 1st degree arson, one count of 2nd degree arson and one count of reckless endangerment. He is currently in the Montgomery County Detention Center.

Walter had been a volunteer firefighter for less than a year. 9NEWS NOW has requested comment from the Gaithersburg-Washington Grove VFD.

Republished with permission of WUSA-TV.