2 sets of brothers accused of arson

(AP)
Updated: 2007-05-16 15:02

PITTSBURGH - Two sets of Pittsburgh-area brothers, including one pair who were firefighters, face charges that they set fires for fun.

George Dunkle and Doug Medlen were accused of setting four fires in their Pittsburgh neighborhood and spray-painting their name near at least one blaze. They are scheduled for trial on Friday.

"Basically, both of them thought it was exciting," Capt. Jeffrey Morris, an investigator with the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

In April, Robert and Michael Helms, firefighters in Connellsville, about 50 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty to charges they set three forest fires in 2005. The Helms brothers are to be sentenced in June. They will be barred from serving as firefighters.

Prosecutors accuse the brothers of setting fires so they could be heroes when they helped put them out.



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