A Fair Haven volunteer firefighter was arrested and charged with arson Saturday, the Monmouth County Prosecutor announced Sunday evening.
Nicholas Joyce, 19, was alleged to have set a fire to a storage shed behind a church Friday afternoon. He then went to the borough firehouse, where he responded to the fire with other volunteers, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
According to Gramiccioni, firefighters responded around 4:28 p.m. Friday to a report of a fire at the United Methodist Church at 300 Ridge Road. The fire was located behind a shed located on church property and quickly extinguished, causing damage only to the shed.
The shed belongs to a local Boy Scout troop and contains troop property and supplies. Gramiccioni said Joyce is a former Boy Scout.
A joint investigation by the prosecutor’s office and Fair Haven police led to the arrest, Gramiccioni said. Investigators concluded that Joyce had set the fire prior to returning to the firehouse, and “once back at the firehouse, he responded with other firefighters to the shed fire, which he had just set,” he said.
Joyce was charged with one count of second degree aggravated arson and released from custody after posting $5,000 bail with a 10 percent option, as set by Municipal Court Judge James Berube.
Gramiccioni said Joyce faces up to 10 years in a New Jersey state prison if convicted.
