A transient who sparked a blaze that charred more than 300 acres in the Montebello Hills last summer pleaded no contest Thursday to recklessly causing a fire.
Arturo Miallan Aguilar, 46, was immediately sentenced to one year in county jail, along with a one-year, live-in drug treatment program and three years probation, according to Deputy District Attorney Joy Roberts.
Aguilar was arrested hours after the blaze — dubbed the Lincoln Fire — started last Aug. 16 in the Rio Hondo riverbed in Montebello and spread into the hills.
Police said Aguilar was apparently trying to cook a meal when the fire spread.
A Southern California Edison worker fell and broke his leg and four firefighters were injured fighting the blaze. One suffered heat exhaustion, another a shoulder injury, one an eye injury and one firefighter complained of neck and back pain after a Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter made a hard landing at Rose Hills Cemetery due to a mechanical problem.
While no buildings were damaged, some residents were evacuated during the fire and there was damage to oil field infrastructure.
A restitution hearing date is scheduled to be set later.
— Wire reports