By Staff reports —
ST. HELENA – CAL FIRE Investigators arrested Nathaniel Ridgway Schmidt of Cazadero, on Wednesday on arson charges, according to Fire Captain and Prevention Specialist Ben The Sonoma County Sheriff”s Department assisted CAL FIRE with the fire investigation.
Schmidt, 19, was arrested and charged with four felony counts of arson to forest lands for allegedly starting wildland fires that occurred in the Timber Cove area of Sonoma County and one additional wildland fire in San Mateo County.
The intentionally set wildland fires in Sonoma County occurred between July 3, 2011 and June 9, 2012. The San Mateo County wildland incident was in July of 2011.
This is an ongoing criminal investigation and no other details are available at this time.
