Arson charges for former Babbitt fire chief

The former fire chief of Babbitt, Minnesota has been indicted in federal court on charges of setting fires in the Superior National Forest.

Ryan Scharber has been charged with three felony counts of setting forest fires while he was fire chief in the Iron Range town south of Ely, Minn. He is also charged with attempting to set a fire at Mattila's Birch Lake Resort in Babbitt.

According to the indictment, Scharber set the fires as early as October, 2011 and continued to do so through Dec. 19, 2012. He resigned just over a week later.

Scharber is scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court in Minneapolis on Oct. 24.

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