MOUNT DORA, Fla. — A Mount Dora man is behind bars for allegedly impersonating an Ocoee firefighter during an active fire Wednesday morning.
Ocoee police say 20-year-old Henry Roth showed up to a fully involved fire at a recycling plant on North Lakewood Avenue dressed like a firefighter. According to the report, he wore a shirt with fire emblems, a fire lanyard on his shoulder and waist, blue fire pants, and carried a radio and a camera.
A fire inspector said Roth managed to get past several checkpoints before being found standing near the entrance of the property. The inspector stopped him and said no one could enter the scene until cleared by the fire chief. A few minutes later, someone allegedly spotted Roth “wandering around the area where the fire was being contained.”
A man who works next door to the recycling plant said he had just arrived for work when he saw flames shooting from the roof.
“It was kind of scary,” said Doug Heath.
He recorded video on his phone but said people should stay away from the building because of how large the fire became.
“I was just making sure everything at her job was OK,” he said.
Heath said he was shocked to learn police arrested someone for impersonating a firefighter.
“Why would someone do that?” he said.
Police and fire officials said Roth told them he is a fire enthusiast and wants to be a firefighter. They also said he had a camera to take pictures of the scene and the fire.
Police do not believe Roth was involved in causing the fire.
He is charged with two felonies: impersonating a firefighter and interfering with an active fire scene.
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