Emergency Service
First Responder Was A Bit Too Early
September 18, 2012 
A Boise County volunteer firefighter faces arson charges for allegedly starting a wildfire along Robie north of Boise. Boise County Sheriff’s officials say 18-year-old Nathaniel Fay Bartholomew has been arrested on a felony arson charge for intentionally causing the fire.
Bartholomew reportedly lives in the Robie Creek area near the upper reaches of Lucky Peak Reservoir. Officials say it appears as if Bartholomew set the blaze in some pine cones and other fuel at the side of the Robie Creek Road and that fire spread to a nearby home, where it got under the deck of a home and caught it on fire.
A suspected motive in the arson is unclear but Boise County Chief Deputy Dale Rogers said it is possible Bartholomew set the fire to get the attention of his father, who is also a firefighter.
The fire is aggressively being battled by multiple agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service which has three helicopters dipping water from Lucky Peak Reservoir and several aerial bombers dropping fire retardant. One is a four engine jet once used as a commuter passenger airliner.
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Comments & Discussion
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Sep 19, 2012, 5:14 am
This guy has a serious case of “hero-itis”. Although he took it to an obviously extreme level, many firefighters, police officers, and members of the military have this same ego-driven affliction. It’s a male thing.
Sep 19, 2012, 8:11 am
@Brian, It’s more than an ego thing. It’s a huge problem that the “professionals” do not want to study. The limited statistics and general knowledge on the topic garnered from similar press reports indicate they need better psych screening on the frontend plus throughout the career. A psych evaluation every year and a permanent federal file much like pilots have to track un-professionals is justified to protect the public from a system which is not screening the meatheads out of the ranks. Going further, testing for steroids and zero tolerance for off duty dust-ups and domestic violence should be a national policy and part of a permanent federal file to prevent the clean slate phenomena when jumping from one department to another.
Sep 19, 2012, 9:35 am
I wouldn’t go so far as to say it is a “male thing”, it is more likely a “human thing”, just look at some of the ladies in power who let it go to their heads, like the one who turned her department into a sexist female fraternity, and the countless judges in Idaho who enact a “do as I say but not as I do” policy, like Hoff.
Sep 19, 2012, 11:26 am
Arson is something that needs to be dealt with a heavy hand. Twenty years in prison sounds like justice to me. He will never make enough cash to pay resitution orders handed down by the courts.
Sep 19, 2012, 3:58 pm
@Flyhead, Prison is never the answer, what is a better solution is treatment, putting someone in prison is just a temporary fix for however long their away, they always come out more angry and more aggressive than when they went in,
Have you never watched the Stanford prison project?
Educate yourself.
Sep 19, 2012, 7:06 pm
So, where would you put them for this treatment Ronin? I take it you are including all crimes in this, I hope not though. There are people out there that do not deserve to see the light of day again. There are atrocities committed by some of our “humans” that deserve to remain caged up, plain and simple.
Sep 19, 2012, 9:23 pm
Who said anything about letting the bad guys out Ronin… I think that is the error with those who come out and raise hell the very same day. They should not get out. As for prison crowding, we should outsouce the problem to Turkey or some other nice place for lifers to rot and work the mines.
As for this kid. #1 rule in America is a fair trial, so let’s give him that and see what turns up. We might be looking at an overly aggressive investgation and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Sep 20, 2012, 10:06 am
I can remember when I was a child and we were traveling in the deep south chain gangs were evident everywhere along the roads. It’s one of those memories that you never forget.
More forced labor out of inmates is needed v. letting them sit around 24/7 watching cable TV and playing cards. We have all manner of menial jobs that need to be done from trash pick up projects to weed removal along roads to any number of things that would serve society.
Sep 21, 2012, 6:17 am
there is no such thing as a fair trial in this country, the media and the for profit prison system and the greedy lawyers all ensure that each and every person is this country is guilty of at least one felony in their lifetime.
“land of the free” yeah bull ##!t!