A volunteer firefighter on Long Island, New York, was arrested Tuesday after authorities said he deliberately started a forest fire.
Jonathan Quiles, of the Medford Fire Department, allegedly set a fire in a wooded area on Mount Vernon Avenue in Medford on Tuesday afternoon, Suffolk County police said in a news release.
According to police, a car parked nearby was damaged by the fire.
There were about a half-dozen small wildfires in Medford on Tuesday, NBC New York reported. They were evicted after about six hours, officials told the news station, noting there were no reports of injuries.
Quiles, 20, was charged with fourth-degree arson, fifth-degree arson and second-degree reckless endangerment, police said. He was arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty, court records show.
Anthony LaPinta, an attorney for Quiles, told NBC News: “Jonathan is a peaceful, good-natured and polite young man who has successfully navigated a number of personal challenges in the past.” LaPinta declined to answer further questions.
The Medford Fire Department said Quiles is currently suspended and, if found guilty, will be fired. The department said in a statement on Facebook that it “conducts arson background checks before admitting members and that there was no knowledge to suspect that this individual may have had the propensity to intentionally set a fire.”
The arrest comes months after a California firefighter was accused of setting five fires while off duty between August 15 and September 14. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said the fires together burned less than an acre of natural area and were quickly extinguished. The firefighter, Robert Hernandez, was arrested in September.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
