UPDATE: Former volunteer firefighter sentenced for arson charges

Updated: July 12, 2017

UPDATE: FREEPORT, Ill. (WIFR) -- A former volunteer firefighter who admitted to setting fires in Stephenson County learns his fate.

A judge sentenced 21-year-old Kenneth Grabow to four and a half years in prison for arson charges on Wednesday. Grabow will also need to pay restitution for the damages the fires caused.

Grabow was charged with arson and criminal damage to property in connection to fires that were set in Orangeville in April of 2016. Grabow pleaded guilty to the crimes in January.

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Updated: January 26, 2017

UPDATE: FREEPORT, Ill. (WIFR) -- An Orangeville firefighter accused of setting fires throughout the community says he's guilty.

20-year-old Kenneth Grabow entered the plea January 26 in a Stephenson County courtroom. The volunteer Orangeville firefighter tossed lit cigarettes to spark at least two of the fires at a shed, barn and abandoned homes in April, causing more than $10,000 in damage. He'll be sentenced in April.

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Posted: May 30, 2016

FREEPORT, Ill. (AP) -- The defense attorney for an Orangeville firefighter accused of starting five fires says his client will have a mental evaluation.

Twenty-year-old Kenneth Grabow is accused of tossing lit cigarettes to spark at least two of the blazes.

Grabow joined the volunteer Orangeville Fire Department in August.

He's charged with arson and criminal damage to property in connection with fires set at three barns, a shed and an abandoned home in the Orangeville area between April 14 and 19.

Estimates are that each fire caused more than $10,000 damage.

Defense attorney Robert Fagan tells The (Freeport) Journal-Standard he doesn't know if Grabow is fit to stand trial or has any mental issues. Fagan says that's why they're having him evaluated.

Grabow is back in court on July 7.