Two men arrested in probe of arsons

Two men suspected of setting fires in Contra Costa County last week have been arrested, authorities said Tuesday.

The fires were set in Pittsburg and Clayton, and neither caused an injury.

Investigators arrested a 42-year-old Oakley resident following a blaze Saturday in the 3700 block of Railroad Avenue in Pittsburg and a 57-year-old Concord man after a fire Friday in the 1500 block of Kirker Pass Road in Clayton, according to Contra Costa Fire Protection District spokesman Steve Hill.

In the Saturday blaze, fire crews and police were dispatched after a person was reported to be opening fire hydrants. The Oakley resident told first responders he set a fire in a nearby business that was unoccupied, Hill said.

Fire crews removed a small container with burning material inside, Hill said. There was no damage to the business.

The suspect was arrested on suspicion of arson to property and tampering with a utility, according to the agency.

A day earlier, fire crews responded to a large debris fire at the rear door a business. Hill said the fire caused damage to the exterior of the business and extended inside it.

According to Hill, investigators obtained video surveillance that showed a man wearing a black jacket, black pants and a red Tshirt in the area when the incident started. Video showed him building a fire and placing cardboard and wood on it to make it bigger, then leaving the area, Hill said.

Concord police officers stopped a man wearing the same clothes who admitted to fire investigators that he was in the area at the time of the fire, Hill said. Authorities arrested him on suspicion of arson to an inhabited structure, Hill said.

Both men remained in custody Tuesday at the Martinez Detention Facility.