OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:00 PM – Wednesday, November 13, 2024
A 20-year-old volunteer firefighter has been arrested after allegedly admitting to setting a brush fire in Medford, New York.
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According to officials, volunteer firefighter Jonathan Quiles, 20, intentionally ignited a fire in a wooded area on Mount Vernon Avenue that damaged a 2004 Chevrolet vehicle, while also resulting in a half-dozen other smaller brush fires in the vicinity.
On Tuesday, the fires burned through an area of Twelve Pines Park and fighters responded on Wednesday morning to take out the hotspots. No injuries were reported in Tuesday’s fires.
The growing fire was also one of several brush fires in Suffolk County on Wednesday.
It was revealed in court that four witnesses saw Quiles, at 3:23 p.m. local time, kicking and throwing cotton balls, which they say he purposely lit on fire. Fifteen minutes later, behind a residential area, another witness purportedly saw him throw more cotton balls on fire.
He is charged with arson and reckless endangerment. The Suffolk District Attorney says the charges are…
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