RENO, Nev. (AP) — A northern Nevada man who is awaiting trial on arson charges in a fire that destroyed three historic buildings in Dayton last year is now accused of starting a pair of brush fires that threatened several homes in the rural town on the Fourth of July.
Jonah Watson, 26, of Dayton, was out on bail in the previous case when he was arrested and booked into the Lyon County jail on on two counts of third-degree arson and two counts of reckless endangerment to the public, the Lyon County sheriff’s office said Wednesday. His new bail was set at $15,000.
Firefighters responded Tuesday to a brush fire that was spreading rapidly and threatening multiple structures on the west edge of town 12 miles (19 kilometers) northeast east of Carson City, the sheriff’s office said.
Friday marks 10 years since one of the deadliest wildland fires in the U.S. killed 19 members of an elite central Arizona firefighting crew.
The driver of a tanker truck hauling gasoline lost control on a curved off-ramp on Interstate 95, causing the truck to flip and catch fire, leading to the collapse of the northbound lanes in early June.
An electrical fire in a transformer that serves the Tiffany & Co. store on New York’s Fifth Avenue spewed thick gray smoke out from under the iconic building and caused two minor injuries.
More than 1,000 people have returned to their homes in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale after firefighters declared a brush fire to be 30% contained.
Citizens with garden hoses helped fire crews douse the blaze before it burned any buildings. But a short time later, another fire was reported about a mile (1.6 kilometers) away on the southeast side of town east of U.S. Highway 50. It also threatened homes and businesses.
The sheriff’s office said multiple witnesses identified Watson at the scene of both fires and additional evidence led investigators to conclude he set the fires, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Watson had an attorney or would be appointed one at a future hearing. A Reno lawyer who represented him in the earlier case — which is still pending — didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The sheriff’s office said “similar circumstances” led to Watson’s previous arrest in December 2022 in connection with an Oct. 13 fire that destroyed three century-old buildings in Old Down Dayton, including the historic Fox Hotel.
Watson posted a $95,000 bond in December and was released from jail the day after he was arrested on three arson counts in connection with that fire, Lyon County District Attorney Stephen Rye said Wednesday in an email to The Associated Press.
Watson last appeared in court at a hearing on June 8, Rye said. His next court date is pending.
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