As houses are being destroyed and firefighters are combating the wildfires that are ravaging parts of Oregon, a man was arrested twice in less than 12 hours for intentionally starting fires.

45-year-old Domingo Lopez Jr., was first arrested on September 13, 2020 at 4:35 pm, and booked to jail by 6:45 pm, reported New York Post. Domingo was caught sparking up a fire along Portland freeway's edge and was later charged with reckless burning and second-degree disorderly conduct. A Molotov cocktail is what Domingo reportedly used to light up the fires in the severely wildfire-struck state. Officers in the area saw the blaze set off by him and arrested Domingo for, in a way, adding fuel to the fire when firefighters were already pushing themselves.

"A suspect arrested last evening for starting a brush fire was arrested again after he started 6 more small fires," read a press release from the Portland Police Bureau. "...East Precinct officers were dispatched to assist Portland Fire and Rescue with a brush fire in the 9600 block of East Burnside Street. Officers saw that a section of grass along the I-205 freeway was burning. Firefighters extinguished the fire. No one was injured and no structures were damaged."

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While he was being questioned by the police, Domingo himself confessed to starting the fire and he was later released from police custody. However, not long after that, the man was once again arrested for the very same atrocious act, according to New York Post.

In the early morning hours of Monday, at 3:30 am, Domingo was on the same highway when police officers found him light up more fires. As police officers arrested him, they found that he was using a lighter this time and managed to set ablaze six fires before being taken into custody. The lighter was taken as evidence while six more counts of reckless burning were issues against Domingo's name.

The press release from the Portland Police Bureau mentioned round 2 of Domingo's intentional fires and said, "All were caught early. No one was injured and no structures were burnt. Officers located Domingo Lopez, Junior walking along the shoulder and arrested him. They seized a lighter as evidence. Lopez was transported to a hospital on a Police Officer Hold for a mental health evaluation. He was issued citations for 6 additional counts of Reckless Burning."

https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1305485979982147592

With wildfires still scorching different parts of the West Coast, around 35 people were claimed as victims in Oregon alone until Monday, according to Fox News. Apart from Domingo, others have also been arrested on suspicion of arson.

Fox News reported that four people were arrested on separate occasions in the wildfire-devastated states, where the fires are moving faster and burning worse than they ever have in the past. One man was arrested in Oregon, one woman was arrested in California, and two men were arrested in Washington.

While talking about the severity of the situation this year, Oregon Governor, Kate Brown pointed out that the fires have engulfed more than a million acres of land in one week, which is already double the usual 500,000 acres that burn every year. And the end to all of this is still out of sight as more people are going missing and more homes are being brought down to ashes.

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"This is truly the bellwether for climate change on the West Coast," the governor said while appearing on CBS's Face the Nation, as reported by the Daily Mail. "And this is a wake-up call for all of us that we have got to do everything in our power to tackle climate change."