By Maya Morales and Perry Smith
Firefighters’ work in an already busy fire season was added to by a pair of arson suspects arrested in a 24-hour span, according to Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials who arrested each of the suspects near where the fires started after a pair of unrelated incidents.
The first incident was reported around 12:40 p.m. Sunday as a small brush fire near Dapper Dan’s Car Wash on Magic Mountain Parkway, according to Melanie Flores, supervising dispatcher for Los Angeles County Fire.
The fire remained relatively small but the extent of any damage or loss was not immediately available Monday, according to officials.
However, a man was arrested near the Barnes and Noble in Valencia around 1 p.m. on suspicion of arson, according to Sgt. Nelson Rios, spokesman with the SCV Sheriff’s Station.
The suspect was identified as a 43-year-old SCV man believed to be a transient, according to SCV Sheriff’s Station officials.
Sheriff’s deputies also arrested a homeless man Monday morning on suspicion of arson in Newhall.
Deputies responded to the 22000 block of Market Street around 2:55 a.m. after receiving reports of a man walking around holding a stick that was on fire, which he was allegedly using to start additional fires.
Deputies responded to the area near Downtown Newhall and observed the suspect, according to Deputy L. Villalobos of the SCV Sheriff’s Station, who declined to give her first name.
The 57-year-old man was arrested without incident, according to Villalobos.
He was treated for previously sustained injuries, according to Villalobos, and LASD records indicate he was then booked at the station and held in lieu of $50,000 bail on suspicion of arson.
On Saturday, Angeles National Forest and Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters knocked down three small brush fires in the rural area of San Francisquito Canyon Road near the L.A. Department of Water and Power powerplant, according to officials.
Those incidents happened not far from where the Powerhouse Fire burned more than 30,000 acres and 53 buildings back in June 2013.
Due to the rains received previous winters, combined with typical L.A. County summer temperatures that range in the triple digits have kept firefighters throughout Southern California busy.
The exact number of incidents this year was not immediately available as of this story’s publication, according to L.A. County Fire Department officials.
