Firefighter impersonator just wanted to check out fire alarm system. Man had been turned down by 3 Delaware fire companies.

Shawn P. Evans, of the 300 block of Gumbush Road, was charged with criminal impersonation and criminal trespassing, Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal B. Scott Bullock said.

The incident occurred between noon and 1 p.m. Saturday when Evans walked in unnoticed at the Smyrna Opera House, at 7 W. South St.

Evans, who was wearing a blue jacket emblazoned with the Townsend Fire Company logo and holding a fire company pager, was stopped in the lobby after he got off the elevator from another floor, according to court records.

When confronted by an opera house employee, Evans said he was “checking that automatic fire alarm.”

Evans did not check in with the office as instructed on a sign telling “visitors to report to the office,” so no one knew he was in the building, officials said.

When the employee asked who he worked for, Evans said he was with Townsend Fire Company, court records said.

The employee notified the state Fire Marshal’s Office.

Fire officials determined that Evans is not affiliated with any local fire companies.

Townsend Fire Company President David Hall said the company’s name is not trademarked so anyone can go to a store and pay for a jacket emblazoned with it.

“I can’t control who prints anything with our fire company’s name on it,” Hall said. “This kid is not affiliated with us, nor has he ever been.”

Hall said Evans has tried unsuccessfully to join the company, as well as those in Clayton and Smyrna.

“This is the first time that he has represented himself as a member of our department,” he said. “He’s got the coat, but he’s not a member.”

Bullock said Evans had been ordered by the court to have no contact with the Smyrna Opera House and the Townsend, Clayton and Smyrna fire companies.