The Azusa Police Department arrested a homeless man on suspicion of starting a wildfire in a park near the foothills this weekend.
Officers responded to a call of a wildfire in Pioneer Park on Friday at 11:37 p.m. Police Capt. Robert Landeros said two residents saw the fire and ran over to see a homeless man trying to start another fire by trying to light a tree that had fallen in recent winds. .
“They did not appear to use physical violence, but they verbally confronted him and called the police,” he said.
Arriving officers found the man and took him into custody on suspicion of arson while Los Angeles County firefighters worked to extinguish the wildfire. Landeros identified the suspect as Jose Carranza Escobar, a homeless man whose last known residence was in Azusa.
Landeros did not say what the man used to start the fire, but praised the quick intervention of two residents and the local fire department’s response.
“We were lucky that the wind was calm last night,” he said.
The arrest came a day after residents in the West Hills neighborhood detained a suspected arsonist for trying to start a fire at the Kenneth Fire, Los Angeles Police Department said.
Authorities identified the suspect as Juan Sierra, 33. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of violating probation, and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office announced that Sierra is a “person of interest” in the Kenneth Fire, which broke out near the county line Thursday afternoon.
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