Suspended firefighter charged in Port arson

A suspended member of the Cedarburg Fire Department who is accused of setting fire to a garage in the Port Washington apartment complex where he lives has been charged with arson.

Michael J. Seimits, 35, was also charged earlier this month in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with burglary in connection with the Nov. 29 fire on Garay Lane.

A witness helped link Seimits to the fire, but even before that Port police had been alerted that he moved to the city by Grafton authorities, who said Seimits was a suspect in a series of suspicious fires in the village, according to the criminal complaint.

The Port Washington fire was reported at 7:31 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 29, and an officer who responded saw smoke coming out of the garage and noted that part of an interior wall had been burned through.

Officers noticed the strong smell of gasoline inside the garage and found a gas can with a melted nozzle, leading them to suspect foul play. 

A witness told officers that at about 7 a.m. on the day of the fire she noticed the garage door of the structure that was set on fire was open just a few feet. A short time later, she said, she saw a man wearing a black jacket and black pants with a pinkish stripe down the side on the ground just outside the garage. After he got up and walked away, she saw smoke coming out of the garage, the complaint states.

Authorities knew Seimits lived in the complex, and when an officer knocked on his door he was let into the apartment by Seimits’ girlfriend. Seimits, who was wearing black pants with a pink stripe down the side, was drunk, according to the complaint.

Seimits had previously been committed to the supervision of the Ozaukee County Department of Health Services and had to maintain absolute sobriety. When officers arrested him for violating that rule, he resisted, according to the complaint. A preliminary breath test showed he had a blood alcohol level of .265, the complaint states.

The day after the fire, Seimits’ girlfriend told police that she found it odd that Seimits’ Cedarburg Fire Department jacket, which he kept in a closet and never wore, and black sweatshirt were on the living room floor. An officer who found a lighter in the pocket of the jacket said it smelled like smoke and gasoline and noted that there was melted yellow plastic on the sweatshirt that appeared to match the melted plastic gas can spout found in the garage, according to the complaint. 

Cedarburg Fire Chief Jeff Vahsholtz said Seimits, a firefighter and emergency medical technician, has been on suspension since March 26, 2015. He would not comment on the reasons for the suspension, citing the confidentiality of personnel records.

“He has not had any kind of active role in the department or had any contact with the department since March 26, 2015,” Vahsholtz said. 

Shortly after Seimits was arrested, he was released from jail and in trouble with the law again.

According to a criminal complaint charging him with bail jumping, Seimits was arrested in Kewaskum on Dec. 2 after it was discovered he was drinking in violation of the terms of his release.

After again being released, the Department of Health Services contacted the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 3 to report that Seimits had made a suicidal statement and could not be found, the complaint states.

A deputy eventually found him unconscious in a vehicle in the parking lot of the Walmart store in Saukville. Seimits told the deputy, who noticed a strong smell of alcohol and saw two open bottles of whiskey in the vehicle, that he had been in the parking lot for several days, according to the complaint. 

Seimits had a blood alcohol level of .297.

Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain set Seimits’ bail at $10,000 during a Dec. 8 hearing.