Salinas man accused of setting 10 fires near Highway 101 arrested
By Ehvan Fennell
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SALINAS, Calif. (KSBW) — A Salinas man was arrested Thursday afternoon after witnesses reported seeing him set a series of fires along Alisal Creek near Highway 101, leading to a rapid response from firefighters and police.
Salinas Fire Department initially responded to reports of a grass fire along the 900 block of Work Street.
“Initially, it was for just one grass fire. And our standard dispatch is three engines and a battalion chief. When our first engine got on scene, we actually recognized four separate fires burning. So two additional units were called in to this fire,” said Deputy Fire Chief Shane Vanderveen.
Firefighters soon discovered 10 fires were burning between the highway and the Hampton Inn.
“Typically, having grass fires in Salinas is not unusual, but to have 4 or 5 in the same area simultaneously is unusual. And as our crews were fighting this fire, we could see that new fires were starting. So like I said, we had a total of ten fires total. What helped us on this call was that we had several witnesses who had seen an individual in the area lighting the fires with the help of Salinas PD,” Vanderveen said.
One witness, Andrew, said he saw a man setting fires as he sat in his car.
“I was just sitting in my car, and I seen somebody going down along the creek down there, and he was lighting fires about every ten feet. That’s about all I seen,” Andrew said.
Andrew called 911, and by the time he made the call, fire trucks were already arriving.
“By the time I got 911 call 911, I seen fire trucks coming down. So they were already here,” he said.
Salinas police located the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Santiago Hernandez, hiding behind the loading dock of a CVS.
He was arrested and booked on suspicion of arson and possession of unlawful paraphernalia. His bail was set at $100,000, per the Monterey County Jail portal.
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