Aspiring weatherman allegedly started fire in attempt to draw attention to his Facebook videos

An aspiring weatherman in eastern Kentucky has been arrested after admitting he intentionally started a fire in a forest to bring attention to his Facebook videos, police said.



Johnny Mullins, 21, faces a charge of second-degree arson for a blaze in Letcher County, Jenkins Police Chief James Stephens said on Friday. Mullins posted selfie videos on Facebook that were recorded in front of various fires, Stephens said.

He called them "Weather Outlook" segments and got 2,900 views on his final video, posted on Nov. 6, in which he warned eastern Kentucky residents, "Be extremely careful if you're out there," according to Stephens. Mullins was charged after he told police he started the fire "because he enjoyed the attention he got from the Facebook stuff," Stephens said.



"He likes to do Facebook videos and have people follow him on his 'weather forecast,' so that's pretty much why he did what he did," Stephens said. "He enjoyed the attention he got from the Facebook stuff. It's really too bad because he's not a bad kid, he's just misguided," Stephens added. "He didn't realise how much danger he was putting other people in."