FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — New video shows the moments after a good Samaritan said he grabbed a small torch from a woman who is suspected of starting several fires near Highway 180 and Armstrong in East Central Fresno.
Authorities say 35-year-old Diana Rivas was caught a little after 3 p.m. Sunday.
Action News was there when the suspected arsonist was arrested.
The blaze, so large with smoke billowing into neighborhoods, concerned people living nearby.
“My heart kind of dropped a little bit because this is scary. It’s near our house too, its near peoples house,” neighbor Sinsay Vongmany said.
Vongmany says he’s used to seeing smoke all over Fresno and thought this was a planned burn by firefighters.
He was disappointed to hear that it’s suspected arson.
“It takes these firefighters, these other resources we have, from where they should be to deal with something like this, you know,” Vongmany said.
Authorities say roughly 50 firefighters responded to the blaze, which scorched about 15 acres of vegetation, creating a hazard for drivers.
“The freeway 180 had to be shut down because the visibility was so poor, it was down to probably just a couple of feet,” Fresno Fire investigation supervisor Jay Tracy said. “So, the California Highway Patrol closed down the eastbound and westbound lanes of 180”
Tracy says thankfully, no nearby homes or businesses were destroyed.
Rivas now faces three counts of felony charges for starting a fire willfully and maliciously as well as one felony for attempted arson.
“We take the fact that anyone setting a fire on purpose or intentionally, we take that very seriously, we take that as a threat to the safety of our community, to our citizens, and lastly to our firefighters,” Tracy said.
Investigators are still trying to figure out why the suspect started the fire.
