DCNR: Banaszewski set six separate brush fires in woodlands near Shenandoah
SHENANDOAH – A Glover’s Hill man arrested yesterday on 18 felony arson charges is accused of lighting six wildfires last May, court documents say.
John Banaszewski, 43, of 908 West Coal Street, is facing six counts each of arson endangering persons, causing or risking a catastrophe, and setting a wildfire.
He was arraigned Tuesday night by Magisterial District Judge David Plachko, Port Carbon, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison on $50,000 straight cash bail.
Court documents filed by state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Fire Warden Jacob Novitsky in Magisterial District Judge Anthony Kilker’s Shenandoah courtroom accuse Banaszewski of setting six fires on May 12, 2022.
Within the month prior, a string of suspicious fires had been set west of Shenandoah Heights.
According to the criminal complaint, a State Police fixed wing aircraft, Trooper 8, was in the air over Shenandoah for surveillance, looking for any wildfires or suspicious activity in the woodlands around 6pm.
Around 8pm, the airplane spotted someone “setting multiple wildfires near a reservoir.” The person was described as a man wearing red shorts, a black shirt, with a heavyset build. He then walked towards two other people, a man and a woman.
DCNR, along with state and local police, responded to the area. State and local officers hiked into the woodlands and made contact with the three individuals.
With the lack of daylight, troopers and officers did not see the wildfires Banaszewski is accused of setting, but saw two campfires the three individuals had.
The three were walked out of the woodlands by authorities and interviewed. They had said there were only campfires at the site. All three provided their information to authorities.
The next day, Novitsky returned to the scene to assess the situation and find an origin and cause of the fire.
Novitsky said he found two campfires, and six wildfires approximately 175 yards south of the campfire.
He said all potential causes of fire were ruled out except an incendiary cause, and found between 12 and 18 origins, indicating multiple fires were set, some of which burned into one another. Novitsky added that he received surveillance video from the state police aircraft which showed a male setting the fires.
On June 29, DCNR personnel – Novitsky and Terry Smith – arrived at Banaszewski’s home and asked if he would come to the West Mahanoy Township police station for an interview. Prior to the interview, Banaszewski was read his Miranda Rights and told he was free to leave the building at any point if he chose.
Banaszewski denied setting the fires multiple times and said there were two campfires — one for cooking and one for burning trash. When asked if he remembered hearing an airplane, and told setting fire to another’s property is arson, Banaszewski said he had set tall grass on fire along with the campfires, clearing a path to the water.
Banaszewski is due in Kilker’s Shenandoah courtroom for a preliminary hearing on March 30 at 10:45am.
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From what i understand of this story, the man in question did not purposely set the fires. As he stated to police, the reasons the fires were lit was the reasons he gave police. I firmly believe the man is not a arsenist. He was just ignorant to the surroundings good luck. I hope the law is fair to him