While fellow firefighters were battling voracious blazes throughout Northern California, Cal Fire engineer Robert Hernandez is accused of igniting his own fires, according to authorities.
Hernandez, 38, was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of committing arson on forest land in the areas surrounding Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the agency tasked with fire prevention on the state’s more than 31 million acres of privately owned wildlands.
“I am appalled to learn one of our employees would violate the public’s trust and attempt to tarnish the tireless work of the 12,000 women and men of Cal Fire,” Joe Tyler, the agency’s director and fire chief, said in a statement.
A Cal Fire spokesperson said the agency would not be providing any additional details.
Hernandez’s case is unusual but not unique.
Former Glendale Fire Capt. John Orr proclaimed his innocence even as he was sentenced in 1992 to 30 years in federal prison for setting fire to three stores in the San Joaquin Valley in 1987 as he drove home from an arson investigators conference in Fresno.
Orr, a 17-year firefighting veteran, was also sentenced to four consecutive life terms in prison for the 1984 fire at Ole’s Home Center in South Pasadena.
Cal Fire law enforcement officials allege Hernandez started five fires while off duty: the Alexander fire on Aug. 15, the Windsor River Road fire on Sept. 8, the Geyers fire on Sept. 12 and the Geyser and Kinley fires on Sept. 14.
The blazes, in total, scorched less than an acre of wildland, according to Cal Fire, due in part to fire-suppression resources promoted by the agency.
Cal Fire said it was in the process of booking Hernandez into Sonoma County Jail.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Hernandez had not been booked as of 11 a.m. Friday.
Cal Fire is asking residents to take note of suspicious persons when a fire starts.
Anyone with information about potential arson is asked to contact the Cal Fire arson hotline at (800) 468-4408. Callers may remain anonymous.
