BLACK RIVER FALS, Wis. – A rural Jackson County man was charged with arson in some of 50 arson started fires, one larger than 16 acres. Charged was Daniel P. Johnson. 44, who has a rural Brockway address. Bail was set at $10,000. Many of the fires were adjacent to land owned by Johnson’s parents, with whom he lived. On one day there were five fires burning at the same time, most only a few square feet. Johnson was charged with eight counts of intentionally setting fires to somebody else’s land and also with one of marijuana possession. District Attorney Emily Hynek, itemized these fires:
> May 21: A a 1.3-acre fire on a neighbor’s property. Investigators followed a trail to the backyard of Johnson’s parents’ house. Johnson’s response, they said, was that he had seen the fire and tried to put it out but thought somebody else would call 911. Multiple fires broke out on the neighbor’s property in the ensuing months . Investigators set up a trail camera and observed someone who looked like Johnson on the property.
> June 25: Two fires were set at Hart Tire & Lumber Company, in Black River Falls. where Johnson had worked up until a few weeks prior. The owner told investigators he suspected Johnson.
Johnson. In Jackson County jail. Bail at $10,000.
> August 4: After a neighboring landowner decided to sell the land, a real estate smelled smoke and saw a man on the property.
> August 5: A man resembling Johnson was seen on camera at the Gebhardt Elementary School in Black River Falls. There had been a fire in a wooded area along the nearby Foundation Trail.
In an interview after being arrested, according to the criminal complaint, Johnson said he had seen other people on a neighbor’s land when some fires occurred. Maybe it was kids, he said. Investigators said that Johnson changed his story in a retelling. At another point in interviews, investigators said, Johnson admitted to hitting gasoline-soaked tennis balls into the air before going to bed. Only the next morning did he learn there were fires on the properties of two neighbors. He said he had done his tennis ball experiments about four times “out of curiosity.” He denied starting “big” fires.