A 48-year-old man has been arrested and accused of setting a string of arson fires — nine in all — in parched East County brush in November, including one blaze that briefly forced evacuations, Cal Fire officials said Monday.
The man, who is homeless, was taken into custody on Saturday, the day the last two fires in the series were ignited, the state agency said in a news release. Authorities did not say where he was arrested. He remained jailed without bail Monday; online jail records indicate the man may have been on probation at the time of his arrest.
Cal Fire credited “vigilant witnesses” for providing its investigators with “critical information” that helped identify the man as a suspect. An agency spokesperson said its investigators gathered witness statements and information from each of the fires.
According to Cal Fire, the first brush fire in the suspected series happened on Nov. 10 in Jamul.
Ten days later, on Nov. 20, six fires erupted within two hours in the communities of Rancho San Diego, Dehesa and Jamul, the agency said. The biggest of them was dubbed the Millar fire, near Campo and Millar Ranch roads in Rancho San Diego, and reached about 15 acres as it threatened structures. Evacuations were ordered, but the order was lifted less than 40 minutes later.
As crews battled that one, other firefighters quickly doused at least three other fires burning in nearby Jamul. They were small and near one another, reached less than an acre, and did not merge.
The final two fires were another 10 days after that, on Saturday, in San Diego and La Mesa, the fire agency said.
Jail records indicate that the man could be arraigned Wednesday if prosecutors opt to file charges.
