The El Paso Times (Texas)
MESQUITE, NM — A former volunteer firefighter has been arrested for paying two teenagers to start a blaze in an abandoned mobile home.
The Doña Ana Sheriff’s Department said in a news release Monday that Diego Salinas was a probationary firefighter who had recently applied to join the Mesquite department.
Salinas faces multiple felony counts of arson, conspiracy to commit arson and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Investigators say he paid two 15-year-old boys $75 each to start the fire. The boys also were arrested, but there was no word on the charges against them.
A Doña Ana County spokesman did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
A passing motorist reported the fire, which destroyed the mobile home valued at $6,000.