UTSUNOMIYA, Tochigi Pref. (Kyodo) A firefighter who carried out a sustained arson campaign just so he could put the fires out again was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Utsunomiya District Court on Tuesday .
Kazuji Kawashima, 29, a former community firefighter in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, was involved in 11 cases of arson and attempted arson in Ashikaga between September 1999 and August 2000, destroying seven buildings and damaging three others.
In each case, he arrived at the scene to tackle the blaze, according to the ruling.
Susumu Iibuchi, the presiding judge at the court's Tochigi branch, said Kawashima "committed the crimes to vent frustration at his economic hardships."
Public prosecutors had demanded 15 years in prison.