Sedona AZ (May 25, 2013) – Coconino County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 25-year-old James Duncan, a transient, for starting a wildfire. Investigators believe Duncan is responsible for the one acre fire, the Freeway Fire, along the I-40 near Flagstaff, Arizona.
On Thursday, May 24, 2013, at 11:22 in the morning, the Sheriff’s Office received a call from the Northern District of the Arizona Department of Public Safety about an I-40 hitchhiker believed to have stated a fire: A motorist had placed a cell phone call to DPS saying that he saw a hitchhiker sitting on a log smoking a cigarette in the same area where the wildfire ignited.
A Sheriff’s office deputy soon made visual contact with a male hitchhiker walking along the west bound lane shoulder of Interstate Highway I-40 in the area of Mile-Post 181. The man’s description matched that provided by the motorist. DPS and the Sheriff’s deputy made contact with the hitchhiker, who was identified as James Duncan, formerly of Mississippi, with no fixed address.
The motorist was contacted by the authorities and asked to return to the area. The driver returned and identified Duncan as the person whom he earlier observed and reported.
During the interview, Duncan admitted to sitting on the log and smoking a cigarette but denied causing the fire. A subsequent fire investigation by the United States Forest Service identified the point of origin for the Freeway Fire as the log area where Duncan had been seated while smoking.
Duncan was arrested for one count of Reckless Burning and transported to the Coconino County Detention Facility in Flagstaff, Arizona.
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