Man accused of setting multiple grass fires in Oklahoma says he ‘misses being a firefighter’
By Jason Burger, Abigail Ogle
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CUSTER CITY, Oklahoma (KOCO) — A former Custer City firefighter has been arrested and accused of intentionally setting nearly a dozen grass fires in Dewey and Custer counties, burning more than 400 acres of land.
Court documents show that the suspect, 32-year-old Skyler Terrell, allegedly told authorities he thought fighting these fires could help him get his job back. Terrell reportedly told them he is obsessed with fire.
Terrell was seen by Thomas firefighters at five different fire locations near the town of Putnam on the same day, according to court documents.
The first two fires he admitted to setting occurred on the same day in mid-February. One of KOCO’s storm chasers caught one of those fires on camera on Feb. 24.
According to court documents, firefighters reported that Terrell was the one to call them in, and he was first at the scene as firefighters showed up and even helped put them out. Fire investigators learned that the spots where Terrell helped put out the fires were where the fires originated.
Terrell admitted to setting all eight fires, saying he “misses being a firefighter.”
A probable cause affidavit says that Terrell was stopped by Oklahoma Highway Patrol on Feb. 24, but he was released and left the area.
In early March, agents with the State Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry met with Terrell. Court documents said he was seen at suspicious fires on Feb. 18, 24 and 27.
Officials said they noticed he called a family member, who works for the Custer City Fire Department, to notify them of all the fires.
“Skyler admitted…that he did set these fires with a cigarette lighter because he thought it could help him get back on the fire department if they saw him at the fires trying to put them out when they arrived,” court documents said.
Those fires burned more than 400 acres, according to court documents.
Terrell is facing eight counts of arson and establishing a pattern of crimes.
This isn’t Terrell’s first time getting in trouble with the law. He was also arrested in 2018 as part of a child predator sting in Canadian County.
He pleaded guilty to charges that he communicated with whom he thought was a 14-year-old girl but was actually an investigator posing as a teenager. He was sentenced to 117 days in jail and 160 hours of community service for that charge.
Now, Terrell faces nearly 70 years in prison if found guilty of all his new charges.
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