Police: Volunteer Ambulance Worker Arrested For Arson

A Mahwah Company # 4 Ambulance Corps. volunteer was arrested after responding to an Upper Saddle River fire that he allegedly started, authorities said.

Bryan Alvarez, 23, a Ramsey resident who volunteers with the Allendale, Waldwick and Haworth fire departments, was arrested May 1 by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office and charged with aggravated Arson, arson, and burglary, according to Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli.

Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli confirmed Alvarez was a volunteer with the Mahwah Ambulance Corps. 

Alvarez allegedly set fire to an abandoned single family home on East Crescent Avenue in Upper Saddle River that is owned by that borough and used by several departments for drills, including ones Alvarez was involved in, Molinelli said.

"The fire was immediately deemed suspicious since it occurred in an abandoned structure that did not have any working utilities and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Arson Squad was called to investigate," Molinelli said.

A Superior Court Judge set bail at $75,000, and Alvarez was remanded to the Bergen County Jail in lieu of the bail.

Molinelli said police are investigating other fires Alvarez attended, and a number of brush and auto fires he has reported in the past.

"I was very upset to learn about the arson charge, and had no choice but to suspend Bryan's membership as a driver for Co. 4, pending the results of the investigation,"Chuck Jandris, Co. 4's Captain, said.

"Bryan was never disrespectful, and always a driver I could count on to get a second ambulance to a patient when another ambulance was already out on the road."

Jandris added, "I hope that this incident can help him come to grips with his problem, and get some help."