Cal Fire employee arrested on suspicion of starting five wildfires in Northern California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection employee was arrested Friday on suspicion of setting five wildfires 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 on forest property, the state agency said in a statement.

Hernandez is an equipment engineer at the department and is responsible for operating and maintaining fire trucks and water tanks during emergency response.

Neither Cal Fire nor the union representing Cal Fire employees would say Friday whether they were aware that he had hired a lawyer.

Cal Fire said Hernandez started the fires between Aug. 14 and Sept. 15 while off duty in a wooded area near Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor.

Thanks to the quick response of residents and firefighters, the fires burned less than one hectare of land in total, the authority said.

“I am appalled that one of our employees would abuse the public’s 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 answer further questions about the arrest.

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

According to court documents, 34-year-old Justin Wayne Halstenberg was charged with 11 counts of arson.

Authorities said Halstenberg, of Norco, tried to start three fires within an hour. Two of the fires were extinguished by firefighters and a Good Samaritan, and a third became the Line Fire, which has charred 60 square miles (158 square kilometers) in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was 53 percent contained as of Friday.

In July, a man was arrested on charges of starting the Northern California Park Fire by pushing a burning car into a ravine. Ronnie Dean Stout was charged with arson of an inhabited building or property. He pleaded not guilty.