California Fire Department employee arrested on suspicion of starting 5 fires

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection employee was arrested Friday on suspicion of starting five brush fires in Northern California in recent weeks, authorities said.

Robert Hernandez, 38, was arrested at the Howard Forest Fire Station in Healdsburg, California, on suspicion of arson on forest land, the state agency said in a statement.

Hernandez is an apparatus engineer with the agency, responsible for operating and maintaining fire trucks during emergency response operations.

Neither Cal Fire nor the union representing Cal Fire employees immediately responded to emails sent by The Associated Press Friday asking whether he had retained an attorney.

Cal Fire said Hernandez set the fires while off-duty between Aug. 14 and Sept. 15 in forested lands near Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor.

The combined fires burned less than an acre thanks to quick action by residents and firefighters, the agency said.

“I am appalled to learn that one of our employees would violate the public trust and attempt to tarnish the tireless work of the 12,000 women and men of CAL FIRE,” Cal Fire Director and Fire Chief Joe Tyler said in the statement.

Ari Hirschfield, a Cal Fire spokesman, said in an email that the agency would not respond to further questions about the arrest.

A delivery driver pleaded not guilty Tuesday to starting the massive Line Fire on Sept. 5. The blaze forced the evacuation of thousands of people in East Los Angeles, injured a firefighter and destroyed a home.

Justin Wayne Halstenberg, 34, has been charged with 11 arson-related felonies, court records show.

Authorities said Halstenberg, of Norco, tried to start three fires in an hour — two that were extinguished by firefighters and a good Samaritan, and a third that became the Line Fire, which has scorched 61 square miles (158 square kilometers) in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was 53% contained Friday.

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