The fire chief of Old Orchard Beach has been charged with arson in connection with a woods-grass fire last month that burned over 40 acres in his town. 

The State Fire Marshal's Office, working with the Maine Forest Service, arrested 59-year-old Ricky Plummer early Saturday morning, according to Steve McCausland of the Maine Department of Public Safety.

More than 100 firefighters from several southern Maine communities battled the fire in the Jones Creek Marsh area on April 15. A Red Flag Warning was in effect on that day, with high winds and extremely dry conditions. Several Old Orchard Beach apartment/condo complexes were evacuated as a precaution. The wind-whipped fire burned 42 acres.


McCausland said about a dozen investigators from the fire marshal's office and the forest service arrived in Old Orchard Beach with search warrants Friday afternoon. They seized computers at the fire station and in the fire chief's town-owned car, along with Plummer's cell phone. Investigators then interviewed the fire chief.

Plummer was arrested at his mother in law's home in Scarborough around 2 a.m. Saturday and taken to the Cumberland County Jail, McCausland said. Bail was set at $10,000.

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