Cal Fire Engineer Accused of Starting 5 Northern California Wildfires

A California firefighter was arrested Friday greeting aft allegedly mounting 5 fires successful vino state during what has already been a atrocious twelvemonth for wildfires successful the state.

Robert Hernandez, a 38-year-old occurrence apparatus technologist with Cal Fire, the state’s main firefighting agency, was arrested connected suspicion of mounting fires connected wood onshore adjacent the Northern California towns of Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor betwixt Aug. 15 and Sept. 14.

The fires remained small, burning little than an acre of onshore combined, due to the fact that section residents and firefighters worked rapidly to extinguish them, according to Cal Fire. Mr. Hernandez, a nonmigratory of Healdsburg who was accused of mounting the fires portion disconnected duty, was booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility connected six felony counts and was being held connected $2 cardinal bail.

“I americium appalled to larn 1 of our employees would interruption the public’s spot and effort to tarnish the tireless enactment of the 12,000 women and men of Cal Fire,” Joe Tyler, the manager and occurrence main of Cal Fire, said connected Friday.

Cal Fire instrumentality enforcement officers took Mr. Hernandez into custody and person arrested 923 arson suspects since 2016.

A 2016 study by the National Volunteer Fire Council determined, based connected media accounts, that much than 100 firefighters successful the United States were arrested each twelvemonth connected arson charges. The study said that they represented a tiny percent of the nation’s firefighters, and that motives varied, from those who wanted to beryllium a leader by putting retired their ain blazes to others who wanted much firefighting enactment oregon suffered from intelligence disorders.

Cases of “firefighter arson” person occurred for centuries, the occurrence assembly said.

Nearly 1 cardinal acres person burned successful California truthful acold this year, astir 3 times the full past year. Just this month, firefighters person been battling 3 ample blazes successful Southern California that person burned dozens of homes and different structures. Favorable upwind conditions successful caller days person helped them summation the precocious hand.