Sheriff claims man started fire in Alexander Mountain while posing as firefighter

The Alexander Mountain fire was started by a Loveland man posing as a firefighter, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.

Jason Hobby, 49, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and booked into the Larimer County Jail. He is charged with arson, menacing, abuse of authority, false imprisonment and two counts of abuse of authority, according to jail records.

According to court records, Hobby is being held on $250,000 bail.

Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen said Hobby previously worked at the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch at the base of Alexander Mountain.

Before and during the fire, Hobby posed as a police officer or firefighter, stopped travelers in the area, pointed weapons at them and falsely accused them of trespassing, Feyen said.

Feyen said Hobby drove a red pickup truck he modified to look like a fire truck and bypassed several roadblocks and closures to get back near the fire. The truck had emblems reading “Twin Buttes Fire Protection District” on them.

“Based on our research and investigation, we cannot locate a Twin Buttes firefighter anywhere,” Feyen said. “He had firefighting equipment… He had hose reels, he had catch tanks, it was so hard to see that he was able to get through roadblocks to get to the fire scene.”

Hobby was convicted of impersonation of a public official in California in 1997, court records show. In 1999, he was also charged in California with several firearms violations and false imprisonment, which were later dropped.

Investigators said Hobby may have falsely identified himself as a police officer or firefighter in other cases and are asking for information from community members who may have had interactions with him to be directed to Investigator Justin Atwood at 970-498-5143 or Crime Stoppers of Larimer County at 970-221-6868.

Larimer County Sheriff’s officials concluded in early August that the fire, which spanned more than 9,600 acres, was human-caused.

The Alexander Mountain Fire began on July 29 and over the course of two weeks burned 9,668 acres of private and national forest land west of Loveland.

On August 17, emergency services were able to completely contain the flames.

No one was injured in the fire, but a total of 29 homes and 21 outbuildings were lost and another four homes were damaged, investigators said.

The wildfire was one of four fires in the Front Range in late July and early August.

The man-made Lake Shore Fire in Boulder County burned two homes and six acres of land near Gross Reservoir. The Stone Canyon Fire in Boulder and Larimer counties killed one person, injured four firefighters, and charred 1,557 acres. The Quarry Fire in Jefferson County – also man-made – burned nearly 580 acres and forced hundreds to evacuate.