At Least He Knew What He Was Doing

The former commander of an elite fire fighting unit was busted for arson yesterday.

"Van Bateman, 55, was indicted Wednesday for allegedly setting the fires in the Coconino National Forest in 2004. He faces two federal counts of setting timber afire and two counts of arson on public lands. The first charge carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, while arson is punishable by up to 20 years, prosecutors said Thursday.

Bateman was a Type I incident commander, the head of a wildfire management crew that is called in for the biggest and most severe wildfires. His four-year term in that position expired in 2004 and he became leader of a slightly lower level team until he was indicted and put on paid leave, according to Forest Service officials.

Bateman is accused of setting a tenth-of-an-acre (0.04 hectare) fire on May 8, 2004, and a 21-acre 8.4-hectare) fire on June 23, 2004."

Or maybe, he didn't know what he was doing. I think that, if I wanted to start a wildfire, I could do better than a tenth of an acre.