Ariz. Firefighter Accused of Starting Blaze

P A Y S O N, Ariz., July 1 -- A part-time firefighter has been charged with starting one of the two Arizona wildfires that combined to form the largest wildfire in state history.

Federal authorities say Bureau of Indian Affairs reserve firefighter Leonard Gregg, 29, started the blaze allegedly in hopes of being called up to fight it.

Gregg lives on the Fort Apache Indian reservation, where 60 percent of adults are unemployed. Investigators say he lit two fires on June 18, one of which was put out.

The other became the Rodeo Fire, which started about two miles from his hometown of Cibecue. It later merged with a fire set by a lost hiker.

"This individual started the fire so as to earn money as a contract firefighter," said U.S. attorney Paul Charleton. Officials say he made $8 an hour as a contract firefighter.

"I'm sorry for what I did," he said in court on Sunday, but a judge cut him off and told him he shouldn't make a confession at the hearing.

Shock on the Reservation

"We're shocked at the arrest of a Native American," said Dallas Massey, chairman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. "I am relieved that we found who the person was it really don't matter if it is a tribal member, or not member. We just found who it was today like everybody else."

The massive blaze continues to rage out of control in some areas.

So far, the wildfire has burned 450,000 acres — two-thirds of which is on the reservation — and destroyed 423 homes. At one point, 23,000 people were evacuated from their homes, many from the town of Show Low.

According to the complaint filed against Gregg, he didn't expect the fire to get so big. He was charged with two counts of willfully setting fire to timber or underbrush. If convicted of both, he would face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000.

That the blaze was allegedly ignited by someone who ostensibly supposed to put them out is another embarrassment for the agencies that battle the blazes. On Sunday, a U.S. Forest Service fired an employee accused of starting an enormous blaze in Colorado, which at one point threatened suburban Denver.