Police: Vt. fire dept. member set 2 fires at his house to pay for wife’s infertility treatment

Cops: Infertility treatment cost led to Vt. arsons

BENNINGTON, Vt. — Police in Bennington, Vt., say a fire department volunteer set fire to his home twice in two days because he wanted insurance money to pay for infertility treatment for his wife.

Forty-one-year-old Ralph Brown pleaded not guilty Wednesday to arson and other charges. He remains jailed.

Police say Brown set fire to his home on Friday morning and then again on Saturday night. Police say the first fire was started by crossing wires, the second with a torch.

The home is in the name of Brown’s wife. Investigators say that Brown told them he wanted her to collect the insurance money so she could have a medical procedure that would allow her to become pregnant.

Brown volunteered for the fire department, but wasn’t a firefighter. He helped secure fire scenes.