As an arsonist kept setting hay bales on fire in western Saskatchewan last summer, comments a volunteer firefighter made to his colleagues raised their suspicions.
That ultimately led police to focus their attention on Logan Sieben, a 25-year-old volunteer with the Macklin Fire Department in the town, about 225 kilometres west of Saskatoon.
At Sieben’s sentencing hearing last week in Unity provincial court, Crown prosecutor Danie Cilliers described how, as the fire department attended the hay bale fires, Sieben would say things like, “the area does not have any cameras,” or “there are two ways in and out.”
Police questioned Sieben, who initially admitted to starting three fires. Ultimately, he accepted responsibility for starting 30 fires during a one-month period from July 29 to Aug. 26, 2024, Cilliers said.
“It’s complicated because there’s some planning involved in what Mr. Sieben has done here, but because of his experience … he probably knew the extent of the danger, much more than I would,” Cilliers said, adding Sieben always seemed to be close in the vicinity of the fires and none of them spread.
Cilliers argued for a sentence consisting of a six-month conditional sentence order — to be served in the community — followed by 12 months probation. He cited the high number of fires and Sieben’s breach of trust to the community, as a volunteer firefighter, as aggravating factors for the judge to consider.
Mental health issues
Defence lawyer George Green argued for a sentence of the same length, but in the form of 18 months probation on the same terms proposed by the Crown, including community service and mental health supports.
Sieben has struggled with mental health issues since he was a youth, Green said, and his mental health “took a big downturn” in April 2024, leading into the arson spree in the summer.
“He checked himself into the North Battleford hospital to seek help and in October 2024 he was diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder,” Green said.
Green noted Sieben has no criminal history, has taken responsibility for the crimes, has gotten help and hasn’t been in any trouble since then, following all his release conditions “to the letter.”
“Logan has sought help for his mental health, which, certainly, his mental health led to this offence,” Green said.
Green cited prior cases where other offenders set fires to houses, vehicles and even a fire department, and received sentences of probation.
“I don’t want to give Logan credit for knowing how to contain a fire, but … these were hay bales and they were all contained and they didn’t spread,” Green said.
Question of restitution
The Crown asked the judge to impose a restitution order for $76,650, the amount associated with the Macklin Fire Department’s response to the fires. However, Cilliers acknowledged he doesn’t know how much of that was covered by insurance, or how many RMs or property owners have paid their bills.
Green said that when the restitution amount isn’t “crystal clear,” it needs to be left to the civil courts to sort out, so a restitution order would not be appropriate here.
Judge Ian Mokoruk said he needed time to consider all the information and adjourned the case to July 21 for a sentencing decision.
