Man in court over wildfires

A 29-year-old man was today charged with starting one of two wildfires that merged to became the largest in Arizona’s history, destroyed more than 400 homes.

According to the criminal complaint, Leonard Gregg admitted that he expected to make money from the fire because of his seasonal employment as a member of a fire crew with the US Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Gregg was also charged with starting a second fire on the same day, but that fire was extinguished.

‘‘You’re being charged with intentionally setting fire to timber, underbrush or grass on or about June 18,’’ US Magistrate Stephen Verkamp told Gregg during his initial appearance in federal court in Flagstaff.

‘‘I’m sorry for what I did,’’ said Gregg, whose hands and feet were shackled.

But Verkamp cut him off, saying he shouldn’t make any admission of guilt at the appearance.

The judge said an attorney would be appointed for Gregg and a set a preliminary hearing for Wednesday. Gregg is being held in the Coconino County Jail.

Gregg, a resident of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, is a part-time worker for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Arizona Republic, citing a federal source it didn’t identify, reported on its website on Saturday that the man was a firefighter. But it wasn’t clear from the court hearing precisely what Gregg does there.

Assistant US Attorney Vincent Kirby declined to discuss the case, deferring until a news conference scheduled later tonight.

If convicted of both counts, Gregg could face 10 years in prison and be fined almost €500,000.

The fire Gregg is accused of starting broke out June 18 just north of the reservation town of Cibecue.

It exploded up steep terrain, threatened the town of Show Low and overran two towns just to the west, then merged with a smaller fire that had been accidentally started by a hiker signalling for help.

Together, the fires burned 452,000 acres in the mountains of eastern Arizona, destroyed at least 423 homes and forced 30,000 people to evacuate nine communities.

Tonight, the flames were still raging out of control on the fire’s western edge, and firefighters were working to keep them from bursting out of steep canyons and into the 600 homes of Forest Lakes, about 40 miles west of Show Low.

In Show Low, meanwhile, residents were back in their homes for the first time since June 22.

About 25,000 residents were allowed to return on Saturday to the area after firefighters were able to hold the blaze to within a half-mile of Show Low’s edge.

The town of 7,700 was untouched, but in nearby communities, dozens of homes had been burned and blacked by the flames.

Residents of areas farther west of Show Low, including Heber-Overgaard, where more than 200 homes burned, were still under orders to stay out, among 3,500 to 4,000 people still kept from their homes.