SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A transient was arrested over Thanksgiving weekend for allegedly setting a spate of brush fires last month in eastern San Diego County, authorities reported Monday.
Allen Dinoyo, whose age was not immediately available, was taken into custody Saturday after allegedly sparking the last two fires in the series of blazes, which began on Nov. 10, according to Cal Fire.
The largest of the nine fires -- which prompted residential evacuation orders but caused no reported structural damage or injuries -- broke out early on the afternoon of Nov. 20 near the intersection of state Route 94 and Millar Ranch Road in Jamul, according to Cal Fire.
Authorities directed residents of about 65 homes in the area to clear out of their neighborhoods as a precaution while firefighters worked to extinguish the flames by ground and aboard air tankers and water-dropping helicopters, said Mike Cornette, a fire captain with the state agency.
Within several hours, the personnel had halted the spread of the blaze at roughly 11 acres.
While crews were fighting the initial fire, five more vegetation blazes broke out in the Dehesa area, east of El Cajon, and in Rancho San Diego, near Spring Valley.
Crews had those fires -- which, combined, blackened several open acres -- under control by late that afternoon, Cornette said.
The subsequent two blazes took place in La Mesa and the city of San Diego, according to Cal Fire. Details on those weekend fires were unavailable Monday, and authorities did not disclose what led investigators to identify Dinoyo, who is homeless, as the suspected perpetrator of the alleged arson series.
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