Man arrested for arson in San Jose, police say – NBC Bay Area

A man was arrested after allegedly setting a fire in San Jose on Tuesday, police said.

The incident was one of many fires that occurred in San Jose on Tuesday.

One of Tuesday’s fires broke out along Berryessa Road around 9 a.m. About two hours later, three larger fires broke out near Watson Park and Highway 101.

“I saw a lot of black smoke. It was over this area here, a lot of black smoke,” said Hannah Tuli of San Jose.

Police said the call came in as a report of several fires that someone had set. An officer found the suspect attempting to start another fire. The man was taken into custody.

Investigators are now looking into which fires the man might be connected to. There have been several fires in South Bay this month.

One of the most recent fires occurred on June 16, when emergency crews were extinguishing a vegetation fire near Highway 101 at Oakland Road. Another fire occurred on Monday near Highway 85 and Santa Teresa. Both fires emitted a lot of smoke, putting firefighters and homes and schools at risk.

Tuesday’s fires occurred near a field and Empire Gardens Elementary School.

“We wanted to take our great-grandson to his little kindergarten, but the way there was completely blocked,” said San José resident Linda Abundiz.

The firefighters were able to quickly bring the fire under control. On Tuesday around 5 p.m., the emergency services were still busy fighting the fire.

“It’s just wrong for someone to do something like this. This is our community, we care about it,” Tuli said.