Ex-Forest Lake mayor says veteran firefighters supported Berken's hiring

The Forest Lake firefighter, who left "a black eye on fire service throughout Minnesota" by allegedly igniting a massive fire in Anoka County, was an "excellent" firefighter for three years -- until his personal life and business collapsed, the Forest Lake fire chief said Thursday.

John Berken went from being a former Forest Lake businessman of the year and 2006 recipient of a Lifesaver Award for pulling a man from the St. Croix River to "just a ghost," Fire Chief Gary Sigfrinius said. In the past year as a volunteer firefighter, Berken skipped training sessions and often failed to show for fire calls, Sigfrinius said.

But when departments throughout Washington, Anoka and Chisago counties were called to a grassfire that engulfed 2.3 square miles of the Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area in Columbus, Berken was there fighting the fire he is accused of starting.

Berken, who posted $50,000 bail Wednesday night and was released from the Anoka County jail, is charged with felony wildfire arson. Days after 200 firefighters extinguished the wind-swept flames, Sigfrinius was still at a loss to explain why Berken might commit such an act. Calls to Berken's home were not returned.

"We're wracking our brains for a motive, but our firefighters were paid only $16.25 [per hour] to go to that call," Sigfrinius said. "He couldn't have done it for money."

Berken is described by acquaintances as a divorced father, but Sigfrinius would comment no further on Berken's personal life.

But Berken's problems while running Forest Lake Ford are well-documented. Last year, American Express won a $3.8 million consent judgment against Berken, who allegedly ran up improper charges on the dealership's charge card. The dealership closed after filing for bankruptcy.

But Quiring said he took the application process a step further, doing background checks on all 14 candidates, who signed waivers. Quiring discovered records detailing Berken's convictions in the early 1990s of several theft charges in Ramsey, Dakota and Hennepin counties. He was convicted in Washington County in 1993 of felony check forgery.

And in 1991, Berken was sentenced to a year in prison for threatening to bomb Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie. He used a radio in his car and spoke with an accent saying, "This is Ahmed Ismail. I am going to blow up your airport," authorities said.

"We had one applicant with a checkered past," Quiring said. "We don't cut off after five years."

Quiring said he delivered the report to Sigfrinius, triggering Berken's dismissal from the department.

Berken appealed the ruling. Smith said he felt handcuffed by the wording in the application form, which asked candidates only about convictions over the previous five years.

"These are men who were aware of his past and worked alongside of him during his training period in 2004," said Smith, who did not disclose the names of the veteran firefighters. But Smith said that it was after receiving the letters that he directed that Berken be "reinstated with an extraordinary probation period as the discretion of the fire chief."

Smith said he also considered how Berken had become "a pillar of the community."

"Sometimes you do some dumb things when you're in your 20s," Smith said. "He was 35 and I heard him say he wanted to give something back to the community."