Otero County Sheriff warns of possible arsonist

Just after noon Tuesday the Otero County Sheriff’s Office put out a notice to the community to "be vigilant" about a possible arsonist in the area. 

"The Otero County Sheriff’s Office and Fire Departments from across Otero County have responded to a great many fires over the past several weeks. The Sheriff’s Office has several investigations open into many of them, and we believe some of them have been set intentionally," said a release.

The Sheriff is warning that anyone accused of intentionally setting a fire "will be prosecuted to the maximum allowed by law.?" Conditions are especially dangerous right now with dry grass/brush all over southern Colorado and Red Flag Warnings in effect more days than not. 

No further details are being released at this time, but a simple check of the Sheriff’s Office Twitter account shows several small fires in the county. To be clear there is no word from authorities on whether the fires tweeted about were intentionally set or accidental.

Anyone with information about a possible suspicious connection to the fires is asked to contact Sheriff Mobley’s office at (719) 384-5941.

Timeline of recent fires in Otero County:

March 23rd:

March 23rd:

March 23rd:

April 9th:

April 17th: