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Cliff Buchan
News Editor
A fire that blackened more than 1500 acres of swampland and threatened homes in Columbus on Monday was the result of arson and has led to the arrest of a Forest Lake firefighter, John Berken.
That’s the conclusion of officials who are investigating the fire that was reported at 1:09 p.m. on Monday. The fire was one of a half dozen wildfires in Anoka County on Monday.
At 6:08 p.m. Monday, officers from the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office arrested 40-year-old Berken, a firefighter with Forest Lake Fire & Rescue, at the fire scene in Columbus. Berken, who lives in Columbus, was booked in the Anoka County Jail on probable cause of arson-wildfire arson.
John Berken, left, is expected to be charged with arson on Wednesday in connection with a fire on Monday that burned 1500 acres in Columbus.
Berken had not been formally charged in district court at deadline on Tuesday. Formal charges were needed by noon on Wednesday or he would be released from jail.
Lt. Paul Sommer from the sheriff’s office said Tuesday the Forest Lake firefighter has denied any involvement in the fire. He was arrested without incident, Sommer said.
The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office said the arrest was based on witness reports who allegedly saw the man start the fire and drive off in a black Hyundai Genesis.
“That is the basis for his arrest,” Sommer said.
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Forest Lake Fire Chief Gary Sigfrinius said his department was “devastated” by the possible involvement of one of their own. He said he learned of Berken’s alleged involvement at mid-afternoon.
“It [the arrest] took the breath out of our guys,” Sigfrinius said. “There are 34 other guys who are devastated.”
Police in Forest Lake, acting in cooperation with the sheriff’s office, located the Genesis at the Forest Lake Fire Station. The vehicle was impounded by Anoka County authorities, according to Forest Lake Police Department records.
The fire in Columbus was centered south of Broadway Avenue and a half mile west of CR-19. The fire was reportedly started in the south road ditch near 6205 Broadway Ave. (CR-18). Winds of 25 miles an hour from the north fanned the fire which spread rapidly in the dry grass and cattails.
Sigfrinius said residents of 30 homes to the south of Broadway were evacuated in the afternoon. They were allowed to return to their homes in the evening after the blaze was under control. None were damaged, he said.
Sigfrinius said the fire area was four miles long and one mile wide at its widest point.
The fire chief estimated that 200 firefighters from more than 30 fire departments and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources provided mutual aid to Forest Lake Fire & Rescue. He described the response as “incredible.”
Local firefighters on the scene were from Scandia, Hugo, Wyoming and Linwood.
Still, he said, the day was clouded by the alleged involvement of a local firefighter.
“This is the toughest challenge that I’ve had to deal with as fire chief,” Sigfrinius said. “It’s demoralizing for our organization and gives our organization a black eye.”
He said the department would launch an internal investigation in the events of Monday.
Fire crews fought a half dozen wildfires in Anoka County on Monday, including calls to Blaine and Ham Lake.
Lt. Sommer said there has been no specific link between the Columbus fire to other fires in Anoka County, but that those fires remain under investigation.
Berken is the former owner of Forest Lake Ford, a business that closed last year in the midst of financial trouble. He has served as a volunteer firefighter in Forest Lake since 2005.
Eric Hagen, an ECM Publishers reporter with the ABC Newspapers in Coon Rapids, contributed to this story.
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