The CAL FIRE employee arrested for arson was a former inmate firefighter.
Court documents in Sonoma County revealed that Robert Hernandez had spent months as an inmate firefighter while imprisoned for causing a fatal collision in 2016.
The big picture: Hernandez was an apparatus engineer for Cal Fire, responsible for operating and maintaining fire engines and water tanks during emergencies.
- His criminal record included a conviction for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated from the 2016 collision in San Bernardino.
- He received a six-year prison sentence but participated in a rehabilitation program in 2018 that allowed him to join fire camps across the state as an inmate firefighter.
Driving the news: CAL FIRE reported that Hernandez ignited the fires off duty between August and September near Geyserville, Healdsburg, and Windsor.
- The fires burned less than an acre combined due to quick responses from residents and firefighters.
