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California Fire Department engineer arrested on suspicion of arson in five wildfires | Wildfires in the USA

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 knew whether 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 fire forced the evacuation of thousands of people east of Los Angeles, injured a firefighter and destroyed a home.

Quick guide

Explanation of terms related to forest fires in the USA

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Hectare burned

In the United States, wildfires are measured in hectares. While the size of a wildfire does not necessarily correlate with its destructive impact, the area covered allows us to understand the impact of a fire and its speed of spread.

There are 2.47 acres in a hectare and 640 acres in a square mile, but that's hard to visualize. Here are some simple comparisons: An acre is about the size of an American football field. London's Heathrow Airport is about 3,000 acres. Manhattan is about 14,600 acres, Chicago is about 150,000 acres, and Los Angeles is about 320,000 acres.

Megafire

A megafire is defined by the National Interagency Fire Center as a wildfire that has burned more than 100,000 acres (40,000 hectares).

Containment level

The containment level of a wildfire indicates how far the firefighters have come in fighting the fire. Containment is achieved by creating boundaries that the fire cannot cross. This is done, for example, by spreading fire retardants on the ground, digging trenches, or removing brush and other combustible fuels.

Containment is measured by the percentage of the fire that is surrounded by these control lines. A wildfire with a low containment level, such as 0% or 5%, is essentially burning out of control. A fire with a high containment level, such as 90%, is not necessarily extinguished, but has a large area of ​​protection and a controlled growth rate.

Evacuation orders and warnings

Evacuation warnings and orders are issued by authorities when a wildfire poses an immediate threat to human life and property. According to the California Office of Emergency Services, an evacuation warning means it is advisable to leave an area or prepare to leave soon. An evacuation order means you should leave the area immediately.

Red flag warning

A red flag warning is a type of weather forecast issued by the National Weather Service that indicates when weather conditions are likely to start or spread wildfires. These conditions typically include dryness, low humidity, high winds, and heat.

Controlled burning

A controlled burn is a fire that is intentionally set under carefully controlled conditions to improve the health of a landscape. Controlled fires are conducted by trained professionals, such as members of the U.S. Forest Service and indigenous fire practitioners. Among other things, controlled burns help remove flammable vegetation and reduce the risk of larger, more catastrophic fires.

Controlled burning was once a common practice among Native American tribes who used “good fire” to improve the land, but it has been limited over the last century by a fire suppression-based approach by the U.S. government. In recent years, land managers in the U.S. have rediscovered the benefits of controlled burning and now conduct thousands of such fires across the country each year.

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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.

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