California Fire Department employee arrested on suspicion of starting 5 fires

A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection employee has been arrested 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, Calif., on suspicion of arson, the state agency said in a statement.

Hernandez is an apparatus engineer with the agency, which involves operating and maintaining fire engines and water tanks during emergency response.

Neither Cal Fire nor the union that represents Cal Fire employees would say Friday if they know if it has retained an attorney.

Cal Fire said Hernandez started the blazes while off-duty between Aug. 14 and Sept. 15 on forested land near Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor.

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

“I am appalled to learn that one of our employees would violate the public trust and attempt to undermine the tireless work of the 12,000 men and women 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.

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

Justin Wayne Halstenberg, 34, was charged with 11 felonies related to the arson, court records show.

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 charred 61 square miles in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was capped at 53% on Friday.

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

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