Suspected arsonist wanted to play hero

After two years of racking up infractions working at Sylvan Dale Ranch near Loveland, the 49-year-old man charged with arson in the Alexander Mountain fire may have wanted to play the hero, according to an arrest affidavit.

Jason Hobby was arrested earlier this month in connection to the Larimer County wildfire that charred nearly 10,000 acres and caused more than $30 million in damage to private and public property, according to Larimer County officials.

The fire, which burned for more than two weeks, destroyed 29 homes and 21 outbuildings and damaged another four homes. Crews fully contained the flames on Aug. 17.

Among the destroyed land was 1,240 acres the Sylvan Dale Ranch owners were planning to donate to the Heart-J Center for Experimental Learning — an education-based nonprofit — investigators said.

A Heart-J Center manager told investigators Hobby was an outspoken opponent of the plan and said the 49-year-old had told coworkers that “things would be better if the Heart-J Center exploded.”

Hobby faces charges of arson, felony menacing, impersonating a public official, false imprisonment and two counts of impersonating a police officer, according to court records.

During interviews, a staff member on the ranch told investigators Hobby played an “integral role” in guiding professional firefighters into the Cedar Park area during the Alexander Mountain fire and that he was “concerned Hobby created this incident to insert himself as a hero in the eyes of staff after his recent disciplinary work history,” according to an arrest affidavit from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.

Hobby also sent coworkers multiple videos where he was in restricted areas while dressed in a fake firefighter uniform with a Twin Buttes Fire Protection District and Wildland Management emblem, investigators said in the affidavit. The Twin Buttes Fire Protection District does not exist.

In the videos, Hobby entered evacuated buildings and restricted areas to give updates on the damage and the direction the fire was traveling, investigators said.

The ranch property owners previously promoted Hobby to a security officer two years ago, the affidavit stated. He started wearing a uniform and added emergency lights to his personal vehicle to conduct traffic stops.

Over the past two years, Hobby has gotten in trouble for harassing and bullying Sylvan Dale Ranch staff, intimidating guests and “frequently” pulling guns on people who came onto the property, according to the affidavit.

In one March 2023 incident, two brothers visited the Sylvan Dale Ranch to photograph big horn sheep, which were migrating on the property, investigators said in the affidavit.

The pair told sheriff’s officials that while they were setting up camera equipment outside their car, Hobby pulled up next to them, got out of the car wearing a uniform with patches and badges resembling a law enforcement officer and pointed a handgun at them.

Hobby told the two they were under arrest for trespassing but eventually let them go, according to the affidavit. Both brothers told investigators they thought Hobby was law enforcement and that they were going to get shot.

Hobby was removed from security duties in July 2024 after the owners found out about the repeated incidents, according to the affidavit.

The 49-year-old self-proclaimed “fire manager” of the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch also lied to the property owners about being a firefighter from Wyoming, investigators said in the affidavit. He told the owners that on his days off from the ranch he would travel to Wyoming — about three hours away — to work as a firefighter.