JOSHUA TREE, Calif. (AP) — A man was arrested on suspicion of causing a fire that burned 150 acres (60 hectares) of Southern California desert, authorities said.
The fire erupted late Tuesday morning in the community of Joshua Tree and spread rapidly, the San Bernardino County Fire Department said.
Despite strong winds, crews kept the fire from crossing Twentynine Palms Highway and away from buildings at the Joshua Tree Memorial Park cemetery, and it was fully contained in about eight hours.
Callers to 911 had reported seeing a man leaving the area where the fire started and sheriff’s deputies arrested a 43-year-old local resident, the Fire Department said. The man was not immediately identified.
The burned land is part of a 623-acre (252-hectare) property in the Mojave Desert Land Trust and has thousands of Joshua trees, as well as desert tortoises and other animals.
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