Deputies: Man started seven field fires

LINN COUNTY, Ore. (KOIN) — A 19-year-old man turned himself in after deputies say he started seven field fires over nearly a month.

Kristian R. Lee of Lebanon was taken into custody in connection with fires that were started between July 30 and August 28. He was booked into the Linn County Jail on August 29 and faces charges of arson, reckless burning and five counts of second-degree criminal mischief, according to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.

The fires were started in the 37000 block of Rock Hill Drive in Lebanon. The Lebanon Fire Department responded to each field fire, the largest of which burned three quarters of an acre.

All seven fires were deemed “suspicious,” so the Lebanon Fire Department set up cameras in the area after the fifth fire on August 16. Lee was caught on camera starting another fire and later turned himself into the Linn County Jail for unrelated charges, authorities say.

When detectives interviewed him, he confessed to starting five of the fires, according to deputies.