Man Suspected of Starting Brush Fire Arrested, Azusa Police Say

A man was arrested in Azusa — a city just east of Pasadena where one of the largest fires in L.A. is raging — Friday … and, cops claim he may have tried to start another fire.

Azusa PD tells this publication  … officers were dispatched to a local park just before midnight in regards to a brush fire — where they claim a witness told them the man who lit the fire was still at the scene.

Officers located the suspect — a “transient” named Jose Carranza-Escobar — who they claim admitted to lighting the fire. Cops then arrested Carranza-Escobar.

Los Angeles County Firefighters arrived and put out the blaze — and, several other government departments are now assessing the extent of the damage caused by the fire.

Police have a “zero tolerance policy” for incidents like these … so, it sounds like they plan to bring the hammer down on people who allegedly light fires in the area.

In fact, the L.A. County District Attorney has already assigned a prosecutor to the case from the arson unit … and police tell us the evidence will be presented as soon as Monday for possible charges.

Azusa is approximately 16 miles east of Altadena … the town devastated by the Eaton Fire — a large blaze in northeastern L.A. that has burned more than 14K acres. It’s the second-largest that broke out in L.A. this week — about 10,000 acres smaller than the Pacific Palisades wildfire in West L.A. Carranza-Escobar is not accused of starting that fire.