Saskatchewan volunteer firefighter who set 30 fires in a month sentenced for arson
Logan Sieben sentenced to 18 months of probation, 200 hours of community service
A former volunteer firefighter who pleaded guilty to setting hay bales on fire in western Saskatchewan last summer has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Logan Sieben was a member of the Macklin & District Fire Department, which last year responded to 20 hay bale fires from July 28 to Aug. 25. Macklin is about 250 kilometres west of Saskatoon.
Sieben ultimately pleaded guilty to one charge of arson causing property damage.
On Monday, Judge Ian Mokoruk released his decision during a hearing in Unity provincial court.
Sieben will serve 18 months of probation, complete 200 hours of community service in 15 months and cannot possess any fire-starting tools.
Mokoruk declined to impose a restitution order, despite Crown attorneys arguing during sentencing submissions that Sieben should pay $76,650, or the amount associated with the department's response to the fires.
Macklin & District Fire Department Chief Justin Bast said he was hoping for a more severe sentence.
"I don't know that jail time would would solve the problem," said Bast over the phone on Monday. "Maybe a little bit of some type of house arrest or something like that and the restitution with that as well."
'Time to move forward,' says fire chief
Comments that Sieben made to his colleagues in the department initially raised suspicions about his role in the fires.
At Sieben's sentencing hearing last month, Crown prosecutor Danie Cilliers described how as the department responded to the hay bales fires the volunteer firefighter would say things like "the area does not have any cameras," or "there are two ways in and out."
Police would eventually question Sieben, who initially admitted to starting three fires before accepting responsibility for setting 30 in a one-month period.
Bast was unable to make it to Unity for the hearing on Monday, but some members of the department attended and relayed the decision.
On Monday, Bast said he is glad the legal process is over and that his department is ready to move on.
"It's time to move forward. Our members have dealt with it professionally, but it's over now and we'll continue to provide the services that we do and and just keep moving forward," Bast said.
Cilliers had argued during sentencing for a six-month conditional sentence order — to be served in the community — followed by 12 months probation. He cited the high number of fires and Sieben's breach of trust to the community as a volunteer firefighter as aggravating factors for the judge to consider.
Defence lawyer George Green argued for a sentence of the same length, but in the form of 18 months probation on the same terms proposed by the Crown, including community service and mental health supports.
Sieben has struggled with mental health issues since he was a youth, Green said, and his mental health "took a big downturn" in April 2024, leading into the summertime arson spree.
Green said Sieben had since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Prior to the arson spree Sieben had no criminal history.
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