Man arrested for igniting wildfire

May 24, 2013

Coconino County sheriff's deputies have arrested a 25-year-old transient for tossing a cigarette that ignited a fire along I-40, near Flagstaff on Thursday. 

James Duncan was taken into custody, in connection with the one-acre blaze, which was quickly dealt with by firefighters, according to Sheriff's Office spokesman Gerry Blair.

"Local, municipal, and rural fire departments and certainly the U.S. Forest Service firefighters are poised. They are ready. It seems like everyone of them, they have been able to jump on them quickly and have been able to hold them to a manageable size," Blair said.

Blair says this is a bad time for wildfires because of the ongoing drought and the number of people, especially this weekend, who are in the forests.