Glendale man arrested on suspicion of recklessly starting small fire
A Glendale man was arrested Friday night after he allegedly started and quickly put out a small blaze, which a police helicopter spotted on a fire road east of the 2 Freeway, officials said.
The 42-year-old man, who was identified as Edvart Ratavos, was taken into custody on suspicion of recklessly starting a fire about 6:20 p.m. near the 3700 block of Valley Vista Drive, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.
He reportedly went for a walk on the fire road, where he found a pine cone and decided to light it on fire with matches, police said. Ratavos used dirt to create a circular pit and added incense to the fire, police said.
Ratavos reportedly didn’t intend to start the blaze, police said.
Soon after, a police helicopter spotted the fire at the end of a dirt fire road, and then noticed Ratavos was also standing near the flames, he added.
The air crew immediately notified the Glendale Fire Department. But as police and fire responded to the blaze, Ratavos was already putting it out, Lorenz said.
Fire crews reportedly arrived to find Ratavos near the doused fire.
Ratavos, who police said lives with his parents, remained jailed Saturday morning in lieu of $500 bail.
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