Aug 5, 2007

Man arrested for setting fires

Officials say he set at least four blazes

LGN Staff and Wire Report

Four, perhaps five, Portola Valley grass fires were allegedly set by a man taken into custody Saturday afternoon on parole violations, a spokesman for the Woodside Fire Protection District said.

The parolee, Donald Williams, 45, remains in jail as the investigation continues, Sgt. Ken Taylor of the San Mateo County Sheriff's office said.

Neighbors spotted Williams wandering around and reported a suspicious person to law enforcement officers, Taylor said.

Firefighters were dispatched to the first fire near Arastradero and Alpine roads at around 1:30 p.m. They were soon notified of a second blaze about half a mile to the south, battalion Chief Dan Ghiorso said.

Additional firefighters en route to the first fire apparently stopped to fight the second blaze, not realizing it wasn't the one they were originally dispatched to, Ghiorso said.

"We got lucky in a sense," he said.

About 20 minutes after the second fire was reported, a third fire was called in about a mile to the south when a woman said she saw flames headed toward her home at 9 Arastradero Road, Ghiorso said.

The pilot of a CAL-FIRE helicopter, dispatched to respond to the first two fires, then reported yet a fourth fire about 100 yards south of the third, Ghiorso said.

All four fires, which burned a total of approximately 4 acres, were controlled by around 3 p.m., Ghiorso said. Two additional CAL-FIRE aircraft were also dispatched, along with crews from San Mateo and Santa Clara fire departments.

Two of the fires were in Santa Clara County and two in San Mateo County, Taylor said.

Investigators were working Saturday evening to determine if a fifth fire was also intentionally set, Ghiorso said.