Fire Rescue News - Stafford Township volunteer firefighter charged with arson in Bass River Township forest

STAFFORD TOWNSHIP - The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office has charged an 18-year-old volunteer firefighter with setting a fire Aug. 13 that burned about 4 acres of forest off Long Causeway Road in Bass River Township.

Ryan E. Dellane, 18, of the Manahawkin section of the township, was arrested without incident at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at the Tuckerton Barracks of the New Jersey State Police. Dellane was charged with second-degree aggravated arson and released from Ocean County Jail after posting $50,000 bail.

Second-degree charges carry with them potential state prison sentences of up to 10 years.

Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said her office would continue to investigate whether Dellane was responsible for other fires.

She said in a new release that Dellane's arrest was the result of an extensive investigation by the Ocean County Prosectutor's Office working with a multijurisdictional task force formed to investigate multiple woodland and structural fires in southern Ocean County since the summer of 2008.

Dellane is the son of Stafford Township police Lt. Thomas Dellane.

Staff Writer Derek Harper