News: Hanford firefighter arrested - Arson

Volunteer firefighter suspected in arsons

A 22-year-old Hanford volunteer firefighter arrested Friday morning on suspicion of arson helped fight at least two of the fires he is accused of setting.

Justin Gomez of Hanford is charged with setting fire to three homes in new subdivisions on the north side of Hanford in less than two weeks, police Lt. Greg Freiner said.

Police said they suspect Gomez was getting ready to set yet another fire when he was stopped for questioning at a new subdivision south of Hanford early Friday.

Police and fire investigators said they saw a pattern in the three house fires and set up surveillance of Hanford subdivisions under construction, Freiner said.

Hanford police officers saw Gomez walking back to his van, parked in a new subdivision south of Hanford, at 12:45 a.m. Friday. All three fires were reported between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., police said.

Officers questioned Gomez and found evidence linking him to the attempted arson but wouldn't give specifics. Gomez was taken to the Hanford Police Department for further questioning and confessed to setting the fires, Freiner said.

Freiner said police believe Gomez set the fires "as a way to get more experience" fighting fires.

Scott Baker, a fire science instructor and a director on the board of the California Conference of Arson Investigators, said, "Each year we do have firefighters who start fires themselves." But arson arrests of firefighters are rare in the Valley, he said. Baker could not provide numbers of arson arrests nationwide, but he said he has seen cases of firefighters setting fires to gain more experience, for the excitement of fighting a fire or to feel a sense of power.

The first fire March 3 destroyed a model home under construction. The second fire Sunday heavily damaged a furnished model home.

The third fire Wednesday was three blocks from the site of the first fire. It destroyed a home under construction and damaged two other homes being built on either side.

All the subdivisions where the fires occurred are being built by different contractors, Freiner said.

Damage to the three structures was estimated at $981,500, Hanford Fire Chief Tim Ieronimo said.

He said Gomez was a volunteer firefighter for the city's Fire Department for three years. Ieronimo said the motive was not financial; volunteer firefighters are not paid.

Ieronimo said Gomez was a good employee. "He was a volunteer and he responded to the calls he could and did the job in a positive way," Ieronimo said. "There was no indication through his employment that he would find himself in the situation he's in today."

Ieronimo said applicants for volunteer firefighter go through an interview and an agility test, but not a background screening. Freiner said Gomez has no previous criminal record.

Gomez was booked into the Kings County Jail, with bail set at $510,000 on suspicion of three counts of arson, one count of attempted arson, two counts of burglary, one count of possession of a combustible material and one count of willfully setting a fire.

Source: Fresnobee.com