OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine — A fire chief accused of intentionally setting a grass and marsh blaze that was fought by more than 100 firefighters and led to evacuations was arrested Saturday on an arson charge.

Old Orchard Beach Fire Chief Ricky Plummer, who served as fire chief in Marlboro, Massachusetts, in 2010 and 2011, was taken into custody at around 2 a.m. at his mother-in-law's house in Scarboro, state police said.

He was charged in connection with an April 15 fire that burned 42 acres at the Jones Creek Marsh in Old Orchard Beach, a coastal town of about 8,600 located in southern Maine. Residents of a condominium were forced to evacuate their homes.

About a dozen investigators from the State Fire Marshal's Office and the Maine Forest Service seized computers at the fire station and in Plummer's official vehicle on Friday, state police said. They also took Plummer's cellphone.

Plummer, 59, was taken to the Cumberland County Jail. His bail was set at $10,000, and his first court appearance will be scheduled next week.

A message seeking comment was left at a phone number listed for him. He has been the Old Orchard Beach fire chief since 2014 and has also worked at departments in North Yarmouth, Biddeford, Standish and Gray in Maine and Cocoa, Florida, the Portland Press Herald reported.

Plummer told reporters during the fire that the blaze was so fierce it nearly forced firefighters to pull out of the area, the newspaper reported.

"Flames were 20 to 30 feet high, just a wall of fire and heat," Plummer said. "It could have been a lot worse. It could have burned this condominium down."

Town Manager Larry Mead said Plummer has been relieved of his duties and placed on administrative leave. He said the command staff at the fire department would direct day-to-day operations there in Plummer's absence.

Mead declined to comment on the charges, citing the ongoing criminal investigation.

Old Orchard Fire Capt. John Gilboy called the arrest a "personnel" issue and said the department had no comment.

The National Volunteer Fire Council estimates that about 100 firefighters a year are arrested on arson charges.

Plummer abruptly resigned as Marlboro’s fire chief on Aug. 24, 2011, 17 months after he was hired, saying he had decided to leave the department's top job immediately because of health and family issues, according to a MetroWest Daily News story published in October 2011.

In a severance agreement, signed and dated by then Marlboro Mayer Nancy Stevens and Plummer on the same day Plummer handed in his resignation papers, Plummer received $17,500 at the time of his departure.

Stevens declined to comment at the time on how the parties came to agree on the severance package, but said it was "not unusual" for municipal employees to be given a payment when they leave.

She also said that she and Plummer , who was the city’s top pick out of 42 applicants, had conversations in the time leading up to his resignation, but declined to say what they spoke about. Stevens said it's her policy not to discuss personnel matters.

Shortly after Plummer’s resignation in Marlboro, Bill Taylor, president of the firefighters union, had said he believed Stevens fired Plummer, and questioned why someone who left his job voluntarily would be eligible for severance.

City officials maintained that Plummer's decision to leave was his own. Plummer agreed, in the severance document, that he was resigning on his own accord.

In neighboring New Hampshire, a volunteer firefighter was arrested April 22 on charges he set two fires that burned hundreds of acres, forced the evacuation of 17 homes and caused $500,000 worth of damage to utility equipment.

Stoddard firefighter David Plante was charged with two counts of arson. His attorney said he suffered from mental health issues, and the Fire Chief Stephen McGerty called him a "troubled firefighter."