Suspicion that a small brush fire near Canyon High School may have been purposely set prompted a brief search of the area by deputies Friday morning.
“We were looking for someone,” said Sgt. Konecny with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, “but we didn’t find them.
“We can’t say for sure it was arson,” he said. “It was just suspicious.”
Shortly after 9:40 a.m Friday, emergency response crews were dispatched to reports of a brush fire near the school, on the 19300 block of Nadal Street.
Deputies who set up a perimeter around the fire area to contain the man, kept searching after they had dismantled the containment, Deputy Josh Stamsek said.
Some deputies remained in the area of Longshore Park and Canyon High School looking for the suspect, he said.
The suspected arsonist was described as a man wearing dark clothing.
“We’re still investigating,” Stamsek said.
Firefighters were dispatched to the fire scene at 9:44 a.m., arriving there at 9:48 a.m., said Inspector Sky Cornell of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The response by firefighting units in Battalion 22 included water-dumping helicopters and a bulldozer.
“They cancelled the copter and the bulldozer,” Cornell said, describing the burn area as a 10-foot-by-10-foot area.
All firefighting units were released at 9:50 a.m. Deputies, however, stayed at the scene looking for the suspicious person.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station at 661-255-1121.
661-287-5527
On Twitter @jamesarthurholt
