New information tonight, on a volunteer firefighter accused of arson. According to New Mexico Court documents Diego Salinas has a criminal history that includes writing bad checks.Salinas is currently on probation for "battery against a household member" and his probation was supposed to end in June of this year.
As we've reported, investigators say Salinas paid two teenage boys $75 each to torch an abandoned mobile home on Fuentes Lane. The fire caused $6,000 worth of damage.
We sent our team to speak with the Mesquite Fire Chief to get some answers.
"Volunteer is exactly what it says it's volunteer no pay whatsoever," Chief Alfred Nevarez said.
Chief Nevarez says the very word "volunteer" makes recruiting firefighters tough. Nevarez says the life of a volunteer firefighters can be hectic.
"You go to work and you do your eight-hour job and then you come home and you are very tired," Nevarez said. "Sometimes you get caught in the shower when your pager goes off, your radio goes off you know."
The chief says the requirements for the job are:
-Age 18 years or older.
-Valid driver's license.
-Clean record.
-Must be in good health.
We told the chief about the criminal record we found on Diego Salinas the man accused of paying two kids to start a mobile home on fire. As a volunteer, Salinas worked under the chief since September.
The chief says, background checks on firefighters are done by the County Fire Marshall he says he got clearance to hire salinas but can't say whether the background check was done.
"Things happen you know, we get a black-eye every now and then and there's nothing we can do you know I just go on you know it only makes our job that much harder," Nevarez said.
Right now Chief Nevarez says concerned about the publicity this case is getting and how it might hurt future recruiting.
"We take our job very serious, and it's hard, and someone's got to do it."
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