The Alexander Mountain fire was started by a Loveland man masquerading as a fire official, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday.
Jason Hobby, 49, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and booked into Larimer County Jail on charges of arson, menacing, impersonating a public official, false imprisonment and two counts of impersonating a police officer, according to jail records.
Hobby is being held on a $250,000 cash bond, according to court records.
Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen said Hobby used to work at the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch at the base of Alexander Mountain.
Before and during the fire, Hobby pretended to be law enforcement and fire personnel, stopping travelers in the area, pointing weapons at them and falsely accusing them of trespassing, Feyen said.
Feyen said Hobby drove a red pickup truck he modified to look like a fire response vehicle and bypassed multiple roadblocks and closures to go back near the fire. Emblems added to the truck read “Twin Buttes Fire Protection District.”
“From our research and our investigation, we cannot identify a Twin Buttes Fire Department anywhere,” Feyen said. “He had fire gear … It had hose reels, it had drip cans, it was hard to tell to the point where he was able to pass through, inappropriately, roadblocks to get to the fire scene.”
Hobby was convicted in 1997 of impersonating a public officer in California, according to court records. He was also charged in California in 1999 with multiple weapons-related and false imprisonment violations that were later dismissed.
Investigators said Hobby may have falsely represented himself as a police officer or fire official in other circumstances and are seeking tips from community members who may have interacted with him, which can be submitted to Investigator Justin Atwood at 970-498-5143 or Crime Stoppers of Larimer County at 970-221-6868.
Larimer County sheriff’s officials determined the more than 9,600-acre fire was human-caused in early August.
The Alexander Mountain fire started on July 29 and, over the course of two weeks, burned 9,668 acres of private and national forest land just west of Loveland.
Crews fully contained the flames on Aug. 17.
No one was hurt in the fire, but a total of 29 homes and 21 outbuildings were lost, and another four homes were damaged, investigators said.
The wildfire was one of four burning on the Front Range during late July and early August.
The human-caused Lake Shore fire in Boulder County burned two homes and six acres near Gross Reservoir; the Stone Canyon fire in Boulder and Larimer counties killed one person, injured four firefighters and charred 1,557 acres; and the Quarry fire in Jefferson County — also human-caused — burned just under 580 acres while forcing hundreds to evacuate.
Boulder County officials on Wednesday announced a 74-year-old man whose home was destroyed in the fire is still missing but has not been confirmed to be the person killed in the Stone Canyon fire.
Human remains were found in the 2600 block of Eagle Ridge Road but are in a condition that makes them very hard to identify, sheriff’s officials said in a news release.
“The Coroner’s Office is working closely with forensic experts and law enforcement to address these complexities and expedite the identification process,” county officials said Wednesday.
The sheriff’s office will not release the missing man’s name until the identity of the person who died is confirmed, according to the agency.
