Firefighter Charged in Ariz. Blaze
Sun Jun 30, 6:09 PM ET
By ALISA BLACKWOOD, Associated Press Writer
SHOW LOW, Ariz. (AP) - A massive wildfire that has destroyed more than 400 homes in the mountains of eastern Arizona was sparked in part by a contract firefighter who hoped to make money fighting the flames, prosecutors said Sunday.
Leonard Gregg, 29, worked part-time as a firefighter for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was one of the first people called to fight the blaze. According to a statement filed in federal court by a BIA investigator, Gregg said he set the fire so he could get work on a fire crew.
"This fire was started with a profit motive behind it," U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton said Sunday.
At a hearing in federal court in Flagstaff on Sunday, a tired-looking Gregg said, "I'm sorry for what I did."
But U.S. Magistrate Stephen Verkamp cut him off, saying he shouldn't make any admission of guilt at the hearing.
Gregg was arrested Saturday in connection with two fires set June 18 near the Fort Apache Indian Reservation town of Cibeque. One fire was put out, but the other exploded up steep terrain and quickly spread, threatening the town of Show Low and overrunning two smaller communities just to the west.
