Arizona firefighters arrested for fires set near California

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Arizona firefighters arrested for fires set near California

Four volunteer firefighters of the Ehrenberg Fire District were arrested Monday in connection with at least 15 arson-caused fires in the unincorporated area near Blythe, Calif., according to the La Paz County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities believe the suspects, between 19 and 23 years old, sparked the fires to make money. Ehrenberg firefighters are paid for each call they fight.

"To increase the call level, they set their own fires," Lt. Glenn Gilbert of the Sheriff's Office said. "They were the ones that responded to put them out."

Deputies also arrested two people who were not firefighters and are searching for four former firefighters who no longer live in Arizona, Gilbert said.

The suspects have been linked to 15 to 20 fires in haystacks, wild lands and unoccupied structures since January 2008, Gilbert said. Investigators believe they could be responsible for as many as 35 fires.

"We've known for the past couple of weeks that everything was leading back to the Ehrenberg Fire Department," Gilbert said. "Everything came together (Monday)."

He said authorities interviewed one suspect who led them to several others.

No injuries were caused by any of the fires, but Gilbert said they were potentially very dangerous to the residents of the small community.

The six suspects were booked into the La Paz County Detention Facility in Parker. Gilbert said deputies know where to find the four former firefighters who are still outstanding.

Source article: azcentral.com - Link

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009