By Ruben Vives
Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Cal Fire engineer accused of setting several fires in Northern California had previously been in a firefighting training program while serving a six-year state prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter, according to state corrections officials.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said 38-year-old Robert Matthew Hernandez, who was recently charged with multiple counts of arson, had participated in the state’s Conservation Camp Program from April through December 2018.
The fire camps, about 35 in the state, are minimum-security facilities run by the corrections department, Cal Fire and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. State officials say the program paves the way for job opportunities and benefits for formerly incarcerated people.
Mary Xjimenez, a corrections department spokesperson, said Hernandez was transferred from San Bernardino County to state prison in August 2017.
“He was sentenced to six years for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated,” she said. “He received 756 days of pre-sentence credit for time served while awaiting sentencing and was eligible for credit-earning opportunities while incarcerated.”
Among those credit-earning opportunities was the fire camp program.
Hernandez was released on parole supervision in December 2018. That following year, Xjimenez said, he enrolled in the Ventura Training Center, a certification program to help formerly incarcerated people apply for entry-level firefighting jobs with local, state and federal firefighting agencies.
Xjimenez said Hernandez completed his parole in November 2020.
Hernandez’s latest run in with the law occurred a week ago when the native of Healdsburg allegedly started five fires white off duty: The Alexander fire on Aug. 15, the Windsor River Road fire on Sept. 8, the Geysers fire on Sept. 12 and the Geyser and Kinley fires on Sept. 14, according to Cal Fire law enforcement officials.
Hernandez was charged with five counts of arson on Tuesday. The Press Democrat, the first news outlet to report on Hernandez’s ties to the fire camp program, said that Hernandez did not enter a plea and that his attorney, Orchid Vaghti, declined to comment.
State corrections and fire officials said they were appalled to learn that Hernandez not only violated the public’s trust but attempted to tarnish the work of firefighters.
“We strongly condemn the actions of any individual that endanger our communities and undermine the valuable contributions of fire camp participants,” Xjimenez said.
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