Former Firefighter, Accused Of Arson In Bradford And Warner, To Be Arraigned Thursday

CONCORD, NH — A multi-month investigation by the New Hampshire Fire Marshal’s Office into fires in Bradford and Warner led to charges against a former firefighter who attended the Concord Regional Technical Center two years ago.

Nathan Nichols, 20, of Elm Drive in Weare faces five felony arson charges, accused of setting fires in Bradford and Warner between May 2022 and September 2023. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Merrimack County Superior Court on Thursday.

The investigation into the fires by the state fire marshal’s office began in mid-September 2023 after a fire at 89 W. Main St. in Bradford at the St. Peters Masonic Lodge. The building, in 2019, was sold to the town, and several interests in the community were debating what to do with the building. A deputy state fire marshal noted the fire was on the exterior of the building and was near the Bradford Fire Department. The deputy noted the fire did not start on the ground, making the cause “questionable considering there were no viable heat sources in the area of the fire’s origin.”

Investigators spoke with the two firefighters who arrived at the scene first, one of which was Nichols, according to a report. Nichols, an affidavit said, had been discharged from the U.S. Air Force due to a medical reason. He also attended the emergency services program at the Concord Regional Technical Center at Concord High School. After completing the program, he attended the fire academy, accepted a position in Bradford, and was working to obtain emergency medical tech training certification, the report stated.

The investigator accused Nichols of saying he “just happened” to be in town and was running errands for the chief. After topping off Rescue 2 with gas — even though it was nearly full of fuel, Nichols pulled into the driveway of Bradford fire and saw the smoke from the lodge, the investigator wrote. Nichols and a second firefighter used water extinguishers to put out the fire, the report stated.

The investigator continued questioning Nichols, who denied knowing any history about the building, although he had attended capital improvement program meetings and knew that some people wanted the building torn down and some wanted it preserved, a report said.

After more discussion about the timeline of the fire and Nichols’ whereabouts, the investigator said, “I realized there were numerous oddities” with his testimony. Some of those oddities included driving a quarter of a mile to get gas when the fuel gauge was nearly full and his varying answers about the history of the lodge building, the investigator wrote.

The second firefighter was questioned, and the investigator noted they lived in town, were a career firefighter, and had served with a department in the central part of the state. The second firefighter said he heard the call, left their house, saw smoke from the building, and saw Nicholas at the scene, pulling an engine out to extinguish one-foot by one-foot area burning on the side of the building, the report said.

Initially, the second firefighter thought the fire started from within the building wall but saw it had been isolated to the exterior wall. They said there were no electrical sources, and they did not see any other heat source that could have started the fire, like a tossed cigarette. The investigator said “a transient heat source” — like a lighter or open flame had to be the origin of the fire.

After examining the scene, investigators met with the Bradford police and fire chiefs to discuss “multiple suspicious brush fires” — seven, in Bradford, Newbury, and Warner, and a structure fire that destroyed the Sugar Shack on Johnson Hill Road, all in May 2022.

“They also informed us that there had been some gossip amongst the local firefighters that the CRTC students were always at the station around the same time when the fires had occurred,” the affidavit stated.

Investigators then eyed a timeline of the fires and whether Nichols was working. According to a chart, Nichols was at the scene of four of the six fires in May 2022, an affidavit stated.

Between June 2022 and August 2023, Nichols was in the Air Force, the investigator noted, and there were no suspicious fires in the area between May 21, 2022, and Sept. 13, 2023.

On Sept. 14, 2023, the Mason Lodge fire took place, the investigator wrote. The report also stated “it was unusual” that the fire at the lodge would happen during daylight hours. The investigator wrote Nichols’ behavior was “unreasonable,” given he retrieved fire gear and entered a fire apparatus instead of grabbing an extinguisher to put out “a small, manageable fire.”

Nichols agreed to be interviewed in Weare the day after the fire and admitted he had not been honest, saying he never went to get gas for Rescue 2, the affidavit stated. After discussing possible search warrants and GPS data, the investigator said they “sensed” Nichols knew more about the fire than he was willing to tell but stuck with his story, the report stated.

Later, during more conversation, Nichols was accused of saying he was “playing with a sparkler and threw it up against the wall” of the building. The investigator, however, was not buying it, saying, “There was no way a sparkler” would have started the fire on the exterior of the building; it would have hit the wall and bounced onto the ground. Nichols reportedly became emotional and requested a family member to the meeting. He later admitted to playing with a lighter next to the building, which caught black tar paper on fire on the side of the building, the affidavit stated. Nichols was accused of admitting he tried to put the fire out with his hand but could not and then left the area. After seeing the fire had grown, he called it in to the capital region dispatch, the affidavit stated.

Fire investigators also interviewed two former CRTC students. One stated there were “a few times” they had been hanging out with Nichols, including on Day Pond Road in Warner, a report said. While they were there, hiking on one of the trails. Later, they left the area. About 20 or 30 minutes later, a brush fire was reported at the pond, the affidavit stated.

Nichols was interviewed again in late September and was questioned about another fire on Center Road, a report stated. Firefighters were called to the scene and found a lighter. The two former CRTC students were with Nichols just before that fire, too, the affidavit stated. The two students were not working that day, but Nichols was, the report said.

One of the other former CRTC students related another incident where, in class, they were accused of taking a photo of a girl’s backside with one of the class’ digital cameras. The student denied taking the picture to the instructor and requested the memory stick in the camera be checked. Later, the student said in the report, they learned Nichols had been the one who made the accusation and believed it was due to a girl he was dating at the time that Nichols liked.

The former CRTC student agreed to voluntarily share investigatory materials connected to the case, the report said.

A third Concord resident, a teenager, was also interviewed about the case in mid-December 2023

During the interview, the investigator believed they were not being completely truthful about what they knew concerning the fires, the locations of where the former student was, and time spent with Nichols and the other two students, the report said. Comments and information related to this interview were used in the case.

No charges have been filed against any of the three former students, according to court records.

A warrant was issued for Nichols’ arrest on Jan. 2, connected to fires at 1 Center St. in Bradford on May 11, 2022, Day Pond Road in Warner on May 12, 2022, a barn on Johnson Hill Road in Bradford on May 18, 2022, a building on Johnson Hill Road in Bradford on May 20, 2022, and the mason lodge at West Main Street in Bradford on Sept. 14, 2023.

Nichols had a disposition hearing on Jan. 5, and was released on personal recognizance. He was ordered to stay out of Bradford. The Merrimack County Attorney’s Office requested the bail motion to be revisited due to the severity of the case — five separate arson accusations, which “poses a danger to the community,” even though Nichols was young and did not have a prior criminal record. The county attorney’s office suggested he wear an ankle monitor.

A motion hearing was held on Jan. 24, and the judge approved the request.

Nichols was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, but that hearing was canceled. He is due back in court for a dispositional conference hearing on March 25.

Do you have a news tip? Email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.