GRUNDY COUNTY, Iowa – A firefighter in Grundy County, Iowa has been charged with more than a dozen counts of arson for allegedly setting fires and responding with his team to extinguish the flames, authorities said.
In April, the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into a string of fires believed to be arson. Most of the fires were lit in ditches and some spread into nearby corn fields. Other blazes occurred in abandoned properties, detectives said.
The arson investigation led last week to the arrest of 60-year-old Kendall Eugene Rhoads of Grundy Center. For the past six years, he has been a member of the Holland Volunteer Fire Department, according to KATV News.
Law enforcement authorities said Rhoads is accused of igniting fires and then responding with the fire department to put them out, Fox Digital reported.
Rhoads was booked at the Grundy County Jail. He faces 13 counts of second-degree arson, which are felonies, and a single misdemeanor count of reckless use of fire or explosives.
