California IN BRIEF : LOLETA : Firefighter Held on Arson Charges

A volunteer firefighter suspected of starting numerous fires has been arrested on suspicion of arson, a Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department spokesman said. Daniel Luis Gomes, 19, a member of the Loleta Volunteer Fire Department, was arrested at the fire station after he returned from a fire that he is suspected of starting, Sheriff’s Lt. Frank Vulich said. “Detectives are continuing the investigation of about 15 or more arsons in the Loleta area, where Gomes is believed to have started the fires,” Vulich said. Gomes was being held in Humboldt County Jail after an investigation by the Sheriff’s Department, the district attorney’s office and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.