A former firefighter accused of setting eleven wildfires in Westmoreland County in 2016 has pleaded guilty to reduced charges of misdemeanor failing to control a dangerous fire.
20-year-old Dylan Miller of New Florence was charged by the State Forestry Bureau with more than a dozen felony charges of arson and risking a catastrophe. He reached a plea bargain deal admitting guilt to four misdemeanor counts. Miller is a former firefighter with the Fairfield Fire Company.
The fires were set in Fairfield, St. Clair, Cook, and Ligonier townships. A Forestry Bureau forest fire specialist identified Miller as a suspect after seeing him at one of the fires. He initially denied being involved in them but eventually broke down and admitted it.
Miller’s attorney told Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio that he has recently graduated from automotive school and has turned his life around. The plea deal accepted by the judge sentences him to four years on probation and $44,885 in restitution, and forbids him from joining a fire department during his probation.
