Fifteen volunteer firefighters were today (August 7) arrested in Sicily for allegedly starting fires to earn commission from putting them out.<br /><br />Members of the response team in the southeastern town of Ragusa also purportedly made fake emergency calls to earn a stipend for responding to them.<br /><br />The volunteers either made the calls from their own phones or asked family members to report the fires.<br /><br />They received a 10-euro hourly rate for going out to deal with the emergencies.<br /><br />Suspicions were raised when the group responded to 120 incidents in a period when other units were called out to 40, police said.<br /><br />The authorities also confirmed in a statement that the ringleader was considered dangerous and placed under house arrest when he continued to start fires even after other volunteers had stopped.<br /><br />“He (the ringleader) demonstrated a sharp criminal ability and had no fear of the consequences of his behaviour,” the statement said.<br /><br />“On one occasion, he even said he wanted to set off a bomb so as to take the money available if the emergency vehicles needed to be repaired,” it continued, referencing a recorded conversation.<br /><br />All members of the group are being probed for alleged fraud, while some are also under investigation for arson.<br />
