POLICE: FIREMAN WAS FIREBUG

MORLEY, Mo. -- A Morley volunteer firefighter was arrested Friday and charged with setting fires in several soybean fields in the area.

Apparently, once the fires were set, suspect Kenneth B. Hopper, 53, of Oran, Mo., would respond as a firefighter and help put them out, police said.

Criminal charges stem from three fires set June 25 and 26, said Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell.

Fires were lit in soybean fields to the south and west of Morley. One field in the west was set fire twice in two days, the sheriff said.

Property owners were generally able to control the blazes until emergency workers responded, but one reported about $1,500 in damage, said Sgt. Jerry Bledsoe.

Sheriff's deputies were suspicious when three fires in such a short time occurred when the period before had been so dull.

Hopper was identified by a witness at one of the fires, officers said, and a subsequent investigation led to his arrest.

He was charged with three counts of knowingly burning or exploding and one count of first-degree property damage, all class D felonies.

Hopper is free on a $10,000 bond.

The sheriff's department forwarded no theories about Hopper's motive.

"I don't know if he was bored or what," Bledsoe said.

According to information from Scott County 911, most rural fire departments in the county are strictly volunteer.