Firefighter accused of setting wildfires to be a ‘hero’ | World News

A volunteer firefighter accused of setting deadly fires, extinguishing them and being hailed a “hero” has been arrested by police.

Elías Antonio Salazar, 39, is accused of deliberately starting a series of wildfires in Chile that killed 137 people and destroyed 2,000 homes in February, prompting an official state of emergency in the region.

Mr Salazar is the third person arrested in connection with the fires. His fellow firefighter Ignacio Mondaca and Franco Pinto, an employee of the national forestry agency, have been in custody since May.

The trio are said to have thrown lit cigarettes from their cars onto bone-dry vegetation in at least three different locations around Viña del Mar during the height of a heat wave earlier this year.

Mr Pinto is accused of instigating the plot in an attempt to earn more money by working overtime.

Following his arrest on Monday, Mr Salazar was fired from Senapred, the national disaster prevention and response agency.

Investigators also seized a computer and documents from his home.

Guillermo Gálvez, a senior detective, told reporters that Salazar’s main motivation was that he liked “to participate and be a hero, helping when there were emergencies”.

Mr Salazar had previously been disciplined, it was reported, for going out alone to put out fires, violating strict fire protocol that required him to report to the fire department with colleagues.

He is due to appear in court on Tuesday.

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