Louisiana Volunteer Fireman Sentenced to 5 Years for Arson

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry says a former volunteer firefighter from Longville has been sentenced to five years at hard labor for setting wildfires in woods near his home town.

Court documents show that Brandon Lee Harris was sentenced to five years on each of three counts of arson, but the sentences will be served at the same time and with credit for time served.

A department news release says four years could be suspended.

Harris was arrested in February after a month-long investigation by the department and the Beauregard Parish District Attorney’s Office.

According to the news release, Harris told investigators he set the fires to be paid as a volunteer firefighter and for the excitement of fighting fires.