South Pasadena Arsonist Sentenced To Jail

ALHAMBRA, CA — A man was sentenced Wednesday to 180 days in jail for igniting a fire last summer that set a hillside in South Pasadena ablaze and threatened homes.

Carlos Alberto Hernandez, 46, was also ordered to serve three years on probation, spend six months to a year in a residential drug treatment program and register for the rest of his life as an arson offender, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Investigators said the Aug. 26 fire started in the hillside behind the Arroyo soccer and baseball fields and Arroyo Drive. The blaze burned just under an acre of thick vegetation and threatened homes, according to members of the San Marino Arson Investigation Unit who went to the scene. Embers from the fire burned holes in outdoor furniture and awnings across the street on Arroyo Drive, they said.

It took nearly 1 1/2 hours for firefighters from multiple agencies, including South Pasadena, San Marino, Pasadena, Alhambra and the Los Angeles County Fire Department, to fully contain the blaze.

Investigators determined that Hernandez lived in a nearby encampment, according to prosecutors, who said Hernandez had started the fire to cook food.

Hernandez walked away from the area and the fire had started to spread by the time he returned, according to prosecutors, who said he then fled the scene.

Hernandez was arrested Feb. 2 and has remained behind bars since then.

City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock