ARSON SUSPECT CAUGHT.

Byline: Amy Raisin Darvish Staff Writer

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST - A man seen running from two fires Saturday in the brush-covered wilderness between the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys has been arrested on suspicion of arson, authorities said.

Antonio Morales, 22, was chased and tackled by a fire crew, who spotted him near fires at the Santa Clara and Wilson Canyon truck trails, about three miles west of the Los Angeles County Fire Department's Camp 9.

An armed U.S. Department of Forestry officer who turned Morales over to sheriff's deputies for questioning said that a fire crew had been responding to one of the blazes about 1 p.m. and saw a man running ``up a trail that led directly to the fire.''

``He said he's here illegally,'' the forest officer told authorities. ``First he says he smokes. Then he says he doesn't smoke.''

A search of the suspect's black backpack produced four bottles of water and a white disposable lighter. There were no cigarettes found on the man or in the backpack.

Morales was covered in dirt and dust as he was led in handcuffs to a sheriff's squad car.

Dressed in black boots, baggy black jeans and a black, short-sleeve shirt with white stripes on the shoulders, he was silent as a deputy patted him down.

Morales was being held on $75,000 bond, said sheriff's Deputy Josie Woolum.

The fires, within a mile of each other, each burned about an acre before firefighters gained the upper hand.

The two small fires were sparked about five miles from Placerita Canyon Road, where hundreds of firefighters battled last week's Foothill Fire. That blaze, sparked by a hawk that flew into power lines, burned more than 6,000 acres and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

Dennis Cross of the county Fire Department said crews were able to quickly get a line around both fires Saturday, preventing what would have been the fourth brush-fire incident in Northern Los Angeles County in less than two weeks.

Brush fires in Acton, the Santa Clarita Valley and the Lake Hughes area burned a combined total of 35,444 acres. All three blazes have been 100 percent contained, according to the county fire department.

While the cause of the Acton Fire is under investigation, the Pine Fire near Lake Hughes was arson, authorities said. That fire devoured more than 17,000 acres and destroyed three homes.

Amy Raisin Darvish, [phone]

amy.raisin(at)dailynews.com

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Antonio Morales, 22, was arrested on suspicion of arson Saturday after members of a fire crew in the Angeles National Forest detained him running from the area of two fires.

Louie Gallardo/Special to the Daily News