Fallsburg, NY – The Fallsburg fire chief has been arrested in connection with the August 29 arson of a bungalow at a Jewish summer camp in Sullivan County.
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James Smith, 33, was arrested Wednesday on felony charges of third-degree arson and burglary and second-degree criminal mischief. He was also charged with misdemeanor official misconduct and solicitation.
Authorities suspect that Smith wanted to set the fire so that the fire department could get some training.
He was arraigned and is in the Sullivan County Jail on $25,000 bail.
James Smith is the nephew of Edward Smith, 44, of Fallsburg, who was arrested Tuesday and charged with a hate crime for allegedly drawing racist and anti-Semetic slurs on a road in the Town of Fallsburg.
Edward Smith was also accused of the arson at the Skopps colony, located at the corner of Laural Avenue and Brickman Road.
James and Edward Smith each rented apartments in the caretaker’s bungalow at the colony, that is occupied seasonally by Orthodox Jewish residents.
wow upstate police fighting curruption
Was at that fire it was massive. The chief did a great job burning it down.
Details, please! This sounds crazy! Why did he do it?
Sof Ganev Letliyah
WOW – How did they catch him? was this an insurance job?
which bungalow col. is this?
A very high percentage of Arson is traditionally done by firefighters. Mostly they just look for the action or to become a hero.
Will they also be charged with a hate crime? Was this Anti Semetic based?
Wow, what a great job of the Fallsburg police, no wonder none of the previous fire investigations were successful it was covered by the fire chief. There were many fires in colonies during past winter which started in bungalows without any gas or electricity.
Most arson People are Firefighters…..
what happened to *innocent untill proven guilty*
it was at skopps
Both the uncle And the nefew are being charged for the same Arson? What fools, they shouldve at least waited till all the Jews left!!
Is there one fire over here in question or 2?
They didnt say Havdalah “Boira meoire hoeish” It must be they only drank the wine.
James Smith. I know him. He was a contractor I used on my bungalow a couple of years ago. Sometimes he didn’t show up and wouldn’t pick up his cell (I was desperate to get the work done), so I would so to Skopps to find him there because he always hung out there.
The Fire Chief huh!
These were abandoned bungalows. He used to take care of maintenance in this colony and then was let go. However, he was still guarding the place over the winter. It could be revenge or perhaps trying to become a hero…
what a sad day for the upstate fallsburg community
I knew the Fallsburg Yeshiva guys were right 7-8 years ago when they voted R’ Abba Gorelick in as Fire Treasurer. He wouldn’t have let this happen. Ha!
do u know why we first smell the bisamim by havdalah and then we say borei meorei haesh? because the fire has to smell good, this fire didin’t smell good.
I wonder what spin his Jewish lawyer will put on it.
The actions of these two morons is totally inexcusable. They have put their fellow volunteers at risk and I am sure will be shunned in the future by their townfolk. That will be mild punishment if the law really digs into these two fools and they are properly prosecuted. The readers here need to know that many of the volunteers in Sullivan County are Jewish and that all the volunteers are many times not appreciated. The actions of these two idiots should not be a reflection of the dedication that most volunteer firemen have to their communities. There are morons everywhere and in all walks of life and unfortunately, this time it was firemen doing the unthinkable and putting their neighbors and friends in harms way.
Interesting! If this was done by someone from the Orthodox community the community would have been blamed as a whole. where is Sullivan county’s Jewish and non-Jewish tollerence for the orthodox community?I have been coming to Fallsburg for years and all I receive from the locals is dirty looks and nasty comments about THOSE PEOPLE! Us the Orthodox Jews. Just try parking near the Fallsburg Shul during the Summer and you’ll see how the local bussiness owners treat you. There are those in our community who do not behave accordingly, but please don’t make general statements about us or any other minority. Way to go Fallsburg, your town is all over the Jewish media.
This is an embarrassment to all the wonderful, sweet. good and honest firefighters who would never do this (assuming they are found guilty).
Their computers should be inspected for probable hate group affiliations.
Some corrections need to be made here.
The local fire departments do not investigate the fires. Although state law charges the fire chief to determine the cause of fire, the County Fire Determiners (Investigators) typically investigate 99% of all structure fires in the county. Police are not called to such scenes unless a criminal act is determined.
“A very high percentage of Arson is traditionally done by firefighters. Mostly they just look for the action or to become a hero.”
That is also incorrect. Although there are firefighters who have done this, it is very low compared to the general population. You can research this futher with the FBI UCR’s which are pubished annually.
It is (sadly) VERY typical that bungelow colonies go up in flames each spring and fall. Usually they are the ones in disrepair or in serious code violations. Unfortunately, many fingers point back to the owners of these properties but there is usually not enough evidence to bring them to a grand jury.