A California department of forestry and fire protection employee was arrested on Friday on suspicion of starting five brush fires in northern California in recent weeks, officials said.
Robert Hernandez, 38, was arrested at the Howard forest fire station in Healdsburg, California, on suspicion of arson to forest land, the state agency said in a statement.
Hernandez is an apparatus engineer with the agency, which entails operating and maintaining fire engines and water tanks during emergency responses.
Neither Cal Fire nor the union representing Cal Fire employees would say on Friday whether they knew if he had retained an attorney.
Cal Fire said Hernandez ignited the blazes while off duty between 14 August and 15 September in forest land near Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor.
The blazes combined burned less than an acre thanks to the quick action of residents and firefighters, the agency said.
“I am appalled to learn one of our employees would violate the public’s trust and attempt to tarnish the tireless work of the 12,000 women and men of Cal Fire,” Joe Tyler, the Cal Fire director and fire chief, said in the statement.
Ari Hirschfield, a Cal Fire spokesperson, said in an email that the agency would not answer further questions about the arrest.
On Tuesday, a delivery driver pleaded not guilty to starting the enormous Line fire on 5 September. The blaze forced the evacuation of thousands of people east of Los Angeles, injured a firefighter and destroyed a home.
Quick Guide
US wildfire terms, explained
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Acres burned
US wildfires are measured in terms of acres. While the size of a wildfire doesn’t necessarily correlate to its destructive impact, acreage provides a way to understand a fire’s footprint and how quickly it has grown.
There are 2.47 acres in a hectare, and 640 acres in a square mile, but this can be hard to visualise. Here are some easy comparisons: one acre equates to roughly the size of an American football field. London’s Heathrow airport is about 3,000 acres. Manhattan covers roughly 14,600 acres, while Chicago is roughly 150,000 acres, and Los Angeles is roughly 320,000 acres.
Megafire
A megafire is defined by the National Interagency Fire Center as a wildfire that has burned more than 100,000 acres (40,000 hectares).
Containment level
A wildfire’s containment level indicates how much progress firefighters have made in controlling the fire. Containment is achieved by creating perimeters the fire can’t move across. This is done through methods such as putting fire retardants on the ground, digging trenches, or removing brush and other flammable fuels.
Containment is measured in terms of the percentage of the fire that has been surrounded by these control lines. A wildfire with a low containment level, such as 0% or 5%, is essentially burning out of control. A fire with a high level of containment, such as 90%, isn’t necessarily extinguished but rather has a large protective perimeter and a rate of growth that is under control.
Evacuation orders and warnings
Evacuation warnings and orders are issued by officials when a wildfire is causing imminent danger to people’s life and property. According to the California office of emergency services, an evacuation warning means that it’s a good idea to leave an area or get ready to leave soon. An evacuation order means that you should leave the area immediately.
Red flag warning
A red flag warning is a type of forecast issued by the National Weather Service that indicates when weather conditions are likely to spark or spread wildfires. These conditions typically include dryness, low humidity, high winds and heat.
Prescribed burn
A prescribed burn, or a controlled burn, is a fire that is intentionally set under carefully managed conditions in order to improve the health of a landscape. Prescribed burns are carried out by trained experts such as members of the US Forest Service and Indigenous fire practitioners. Prescribed burns help remove flammable vegetation and reduce the risk of larger, more catastrophic blazes, among other benefits.
Prescribed burning was once a common tool among Native American tribes who used “good fire” to improve the land, but was limited for much of the last century by a US government approach based on fire suppression. In recent years, US land managers have returned to embracing the benefits of prescribed burns, and now conduct thousands across the country every year.
Justin Wayne Halstenberg, 34, was charged with 11 arson-related crimes, court records show.
Authorities said Halstenberg, of Norco, attempted to start three fires within an hour. Two of the blazes were extinguished by firefighters and a good Samaritan, and a third became the Line fire, which has charred 61 sq miles (158 sq km) in the San Bernardino mountains. It was 53% contained on Friday.
In July, a man was arrested on suspicion of starting the Park fire in northern California by pushing a burning car into a gully. Ronnie Dean Stout was charged with felony arson of an inhabited structure or property. He pleaded not guilty.