Wisco Firefighters Arrested for Thefts after Warehouse Fire

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From Firehouse.com

Four Wisconsin Firefighters -- Including Deputy Chief -- Arrested for Theft after Warehouse Fire

 

TheMilwaukeeChannel.com

The December warehouse blaze.

 

 

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MUSKEGO, Wis. (AP) -- Three firefighters and a deputy fire chief have been arrested on suspicion of theft connected to a fire at a billiards and air hockey warehouse, police said. 

The four men were booked on suspicion of misdemeanor theft and released, Muskego police said Friday. No foul play is suspected in the fire's cause. 

Muskego police would not release details of the arrests, which were connected to a Dec. 16 warehouse fire at the Muskego Industrial Park, Sgt. John Mesich said. Police arrested the men Tuesday and Thursday. 

The men were Todd Bluhm, the deputy chief of the Big Bend-Vernon department; Jay Richards, a Big Bend-Vernon firefighter and paramedic; and Adam Miller and Andrew Peterson, both volunteer Muskego firefighters who lost their jobs during the investigation. 

Bluhm, 35, of the Town of Waterford, and Richards, 27, of Muskego, have not yet been disciplined but probably will be suspended, said Big Bend-Vernon Fire Chief Phil Buchholtz. The department only has four employees. 

Bluhm joined the Big Bend-Vernon department in August 2000. Richards has been with the department since March 2002. 

The Muskego firefighters arrested were asked to leave the department within two weeks of the fire, Muskego Fire Chief Edwin Schaefer said Friday. He said he could not say how long the two had been with the department. 

''We had an internal investigation over some things here,'' Schaefer said Friday. ''We thought it was contained to a simple piece of equipment. We had no idea that it was ever going to escalate to this.'' 

Schaefer declined to say what the piece of equipment was or give any other details on the incident. 

''We've been deeply traumatized by this, and we're trying to cooperate with the Police Department,'' he said. ''I don't want to say anything that's going to impede their investigation at this point.'' 

Reached on his cell phone by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Peterson, 22, of Muskego, hung up without answering questions. A phone number could not be found by The Associated Press for Peterson. Miller, 23, of Muskego, could not be reached for comment Saturday by The Associated Press. 

No listing could be found by The Associated Press for Bluhm. Richards did not immediately return a message left Saturday. 

No one was injured in the blaze, which destroyed the Great Lakes Dart Distributors warehouse. 

Nearly 200 firefighters from New Berlin, Tess Corners, Hales Corners, Greendale, Franklin and the Towns of Brookfield and Raymond joined the Muskego Volunteer Fire Department to fight the blaze. 

The fire likely began after a strong wind smashed a sodium-vapor light bulb that then ignited cardboard, Muskego Police Chief John Johnson said in December. The building was a total loss, as was the $1 million of recreational equipment inside of it. 

It's stupid $#& like this that gives the fire service a bad name with the public? These guys gotta think, is it really worth the risks??