Polson man accused of impersonating fire official as Boulder Fire raged

A Polson man accused of impersonating a public servant in the Boulder 2700 Fire zone has been charged with two crimes, including a felony.

Donald Breese, 48, was booked into the Lake County Jail on Aug. 4 after authorities served a search warrant on his home.

According to court documents, a Lake County sheriff's deputy responded to the fire hall at Finley Point during the early-morning hours of Aug. 1, after the wildfire jumped Montana 35 and destroyed several structures, including eight homes.

A witness said Breese drove to the fire hall dressed in green Nomex pants, a fire helmet, a portable radio in a harness and a Missoula Fire Lab shirt.

Breese allegedly was assigned firefighter identification credentials that he used to access the fire zone, where he began taking photos.

The charging document states Breese interrupted a conversation between firefighters and claimed to be the fire's incident commander. He also allegedly told someone else he was "head of the Forest Service."

The deputy learned that Breese was not affiliated with any fire service. Rather, he had applied to be a volunteer firefighter but was denied a position and was a volunteer at the Missoula Fire Lab.

Staff at the fire lab told the deputy that Breese was in no way acting on their behalf and had been a volunteer for only a few weeks.

Authorities obtained a warrant on Aug. 4 to search Breese's home, where they found firefighter equipment and clothing, as well as several photos from the closed fire zone.

"The defendant's actions diverted resources and attention from law enforcement and fire personnel," court documents state.

Breese is charged with impersonating a public servant, a felony, and obstructing a peace officer or other public servant, a misdemeanor. The felony charge carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Breese has yet to make an initial appearance in Lake County District Court.

In 2010, Breese was sentenced to three years of supervised probation in New Jersey for two counts of submitting false documents to the government: a college degree and a bomb school certification. He had gained access to Picatinny Arsenal and Fort Dix before a retired explosive ordnance disposal veteran exposed him, according to a 2010 New Jersey Star-Ledger article.

"Breese wore a jacket bearing the logo of military bomb experts as he taught local police how to handle explosives during courses at Fort Dix," the article states. "But Breese falsified his credentials to get the job, according to a federal prosecutor. He was a 1991 graduate of Somerset County Vo-Tech and a former U.S. Navy medic who never saw combat. And he did not have any training with explosives."