Volunteer firefighter accused of setting 2007 Halethorpe blaze: Federal authorities charge English Consul deputy chief

By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

When a fire broke out at a home on Myrtle Avenue in Halethorpe, members of the English Consul Volunteer Fire Department arrived to beat back the blaze. It proved too strong, destroying the structure and sending two firefighters to the hospital.

Federal authorities now say that one of the volunteers injured in the September 2007 blaze intentionally set it, one in a string of suspicious fires in the area at the time.

Documents filed in U.S. District Court last week lay out the case against Nicholas Hannigan, 27, a deputy chief with the English Consul department who told federal investigators in 2011 that he set the fire by igniting a wheelbarrow full of insulation, prosecutors say.

The alleged disclosure came as Hannigan went through a screening to become a Secret Service employee. Secret Service officials worked with Baltimore County police and, more than two years later, federal prosecutors have charged Hannigan with setting the fire.

The National Volunteer Fire Council estimates that about 100 paid or volunteer firefighters — out of 1.1 million — are arrested for arson-related crimes each year.

Researcher Matthew Hinds-Aldrich said while firefighter arsonists are typically thought to be thrill-seekers, many set fires as training opportunities or to create work to justify resources allocated to the department. It’s an emerging area of research — and intervention — for fire services, he said.

A top official with the English Consul department expressed surprise Monday when told by a reporter that a member has been accused of setting the 2007 blaze.

Bradford Thomas, the chairman of English Consul’s board, said Hannigan informed the company recently that he was facing federal indictment, and the department placed him on suspension. But Hannigan did not say why he was being charged, Thomas said.

“I guarantee you, if we had any inkling of something like this, they would be turned over to police immediately,” he said.

In court filings last week, prosecutors said Hannigan described setting the fire as a rite of passage of sorts for volunteers, saying another member told him he “should have lit a fire by now to be like everyone else.”

Asked whether he knew of members intentionally setting fires, Thomas called the claim a “ridiculous accusation.”

Hannigan could not be reached for comment, and his attorney, Patrick Kent, declined to comment citing the continuing case. He has filed a motion to have the charge dismissed.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok wrote in court papers that prior to Hannigan’s 2011 revelation, investigators had noticed a “disturbingly common trend in this area …. connecting the [English Consul Volunteer Fire Department] and suspicious fires,” but had been “unable to fix blame” for any of them.

‘Through these doors’

At the English Consul firehouse, which is nestled in the middle of a residential block on Michigan Avenue, signs above the door leading to the truck garage read “Through These Doors Pass the World’s Best Firemen,” and “This Could Be The Night.”

Started in 1944, the department has deep roots in the community — a hallway is decorated with old pictures and certificates. It is one of 35 companies that make up the Baltimore County Volunteer Firemen’s Association.

Hannigan joined the department about 2006. Three months after the September 2007 blaze, he was part of a team that responded to a fire that claimed the life of another member’s grandmother, according to a news report at the time.

He remained active with the department even after allegedly telling federal authorities of his role in setting the Myrtle Avenue fire. He is quoted in a January 2012 news article, commenting on a federal grant to help volunteer firefighters pay for life-saving equipment. Monday, he was listed as a deputy chief on English Consul’s web page.

The home at the center of the federal investigation was owned by George Corbett, a 73-year-old truck driver who purchased it with the intention of renovating and renting it in order to supplement his retirement income, prosecutors wrote in court documents.

Between July 2007 and the time of the fire, Corbett financed “extensive” renovations, spending $20,000 on a new kitchen floor and removal of plaster and wallboard. The home was unoccupied at the time of the fire.

Corbett was semi-retired at the time, and the blaze forced him back into full-time work, prosecutors said. Corbett could not be reached for comment Monday.

The cause of the fire was unknown when Hannigan applied for a job with the Secret Service in 2011, requiring a screening exam during which he was asked about involvement in criminal activity, Mihok wrote in court filings.

The interviewing officer reported that Hannigan grew noticeably nervous when asked specifically about arson, and proceeded to explain his role in the Myrtle Avenue fire, according to the records.