Aspiring Weatherman Started Forest Fire To Get Facebook Views, Cops Say

Smokey Bear would not approve.

A “wannabe weatherman” in Kentucky was arrested last week after he admitted that he started a forest fire to generate attention for his Facebook videos, The Associated Press reported.

Johnny Mullins, 21, faces a second-degree arson charge for a wildfire that began in Letcher County, Kentucky.

Jenkins Police Chief James Stephens explained Mullins’ “misguided” motive.

“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,” the chief told the AP. “He enjoyed the attention he got from the Facebook stuff.”

Police told WLEX that they did not connect Mullins to any other fires in the area.

Mullins called his reports the “Weather Outlook,” according to NBC News. His most recent video, titled “Dangerous Forest fires to continue,” had more than 5,000 views on Facebook, likely due to the news of his arrest.

Hundreds of wildfires have been reported across the southeast in recent weeks, many of which were caused by arson, according to the Weather Channel.