18-year-old Arizona firefighter accused of setting series of blazes out of ‘boredom’ and for homes being ‘ugly’

A teenage firefighter from northern Arizona was arrested last week in connection with a series of recent arson incidents, which the smoke eater allegedly sparked out of “boredom.”

Karson Nutter, 18, of Ash Fork, confessed to setting at least seven of the eight blazes that took place in Ash Fork and Coconino County starting on June 15, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office announced on Friday. 

Nutter, a volunteer firefighter with the Ash Fork Fire Department, said he set the fires out of “boredom, retaliation against a former employer, [and] chasing a thrill,” police said.

Four of the arsons were structure fires, authorities stated. During his confession, Nutter also said that he targeted “some abandoned homes for being ‘ugly,’” according to police.

Two of the fires Nutter allegedly set in Ash Fork occurred at the local Mobil Station, while the additional blazes both went up at the county-owned cemetery.

Authorities said that the teen confessed to three out of the four town fires, though they did not specify which one he did not claim.

Nutter confessed to all four Coconino County fires, which include two abandoned homes and a pair of wildfires on Forest Service Road 124.

Nutter was booked at the Yavapai Detention Center shortly after midnight on Friday, inmate records show.

He is currently facing three counts of arson to a structure, aggravated criminal damage, and five counts of false reporting to law enforcement, the police statement read.

Additional charges from Coconino County are also anticipated.