Los Lunas man charged in arson fire

LOS LUNAS — A Los Lunas man has been arrested and charged in connection with the devastating Cotton 1 Fire that swept through the bosque and into the Carson Park neighborhood late in June, destroying 12 homes and injuring 12 firefighters.

Jacob LaHair, 31, of Los Lunas, has been charged with one count of negligent arson and one count of criminal damage to property in relation to that blaze — the Cotton 1 Fire. According to online court records, the address listed for LaHair is in Carson Park.

Allegations in the criminal complaint filed in court claim LaHair wanted to show his children how fast fallen cotton burns, so he flicked a lit cigarette into the highly flammable accumulation of cotton on the ground.

After turning himself into the Los Lunas Police Department on Wednesday, June 25, LaHair was booked into the Valencia County Detention Center after a $50,000 cash-only arrest warrant was issued for him that day by 13th Judicial District Court Judge James Lawrence Sanchez.

Los Lunas Magistrate Miles Tafoya ordered LaHair held until trial on a 100 percent $50,000 cash or surety bond on Friday, June 27. He found a non-monetary condition of release would not reasonably assure LaHair would appear for future court dates because he already had four failure to appear warrants in his criminal history.

“Defendant also has failure to comply with probation warrant in history, which indicates defendant may not follow court orders of release,” the order read.

LaHair’s attorney, E. Nicole Manning, requested a hearing to review his conditions of release which was held on Tuesday, July 1; however, during the hearing, Manning did not ask for any changes to the conditions.

“We are waiting for the (recordings) of the 911 calls made by Mr. LaHair trying to put out the fire and get his children to safety,” Manning said. “We are not asking for any changes to his conditions of release.”

Tafoya noted LaHair is also being held on a probation violation and even if he was able to meet the conditions of release in regards to the current charges, he wouldn’t physically be released from custody. The judge said a preliminary hearing would be set for the defendant in 30 days.

Valencia County Fire Chief Matt Propp said the arrest is a huge relief, not only to the numerous fire departments that sent personnel to the scene but to the community as well.

“This has been stressful for everybody. There’s the added stress when you’re not actually sure you’re out of the woods yet. Is there something else coming? Is there another fire coming?” Propp said the night of the arrest. “Having made an arrest makes me breathe a huge sigh of relief. We can let our guard down a little big and take a breath. I’ll sleep a little easier tonight.”

The Cotton 1 fire started on Saturday, June 21, southwest of the Los Lunas river bridge and quickly spread into the Carson Park neighborhood.

On Sunday, June 22, a second fire — Cotton 2 — began in the bosque to the northeast of the bridge. The two fires were combined for purposes of management and named the Desert Willow Complex Fire. The cause of the Cotton 2 Fire is still under investigation.

During the investigation of the Cotton 1 Fire, a man living in the bosque was interviewed, saying a man named Jacob might have been involved in starting the fire, according to the criminal complaint filed to obtain the arrest warrant for LaHair.

While investigators were working the area of the fire, looking for the precise origin of the fire, two men were seen “rummaging through the burn area.”

One of the men told them a man named “Joe” may have started the fire with a cigarette.

On Monday, June 23, the Cotton 1 Fire was officially determined to be incendiary — a human caused event. Later that day, investigators were given camera footage from a house directly behind where the Cotton 1 Fire originated and a white vehicle was seen reversing out of the fire scene.

By Tuesday, information from a witness was relayed to the investigators, alleging LaHair was seen walking away from the fire with his children. The witness said LaHair told him he was trying to stop the fire.

The next day, Wednesday, June 25, an anonymous call to dispatch identified LaHair as the person who started the fire. When Valencia County Sheriff’s Office deputies followed up on the call, they made contact with a man who lived in Carson Park.

“(The man) told deputies that a male known to him ... as LaHair advised him he started the fire by demonstrating to his children how fast cotton burns and proceeded to flick his cigarette onto the cotton ... which started ... (the) Cotton 1 Fire,” the criminal complaint reads. “... Jacob told him he started the fire ... Jacob was laughing and making jokes regarding the incident.”

The man gave deputies a second address in Carson Park where LaHair was staying. The woman at the second home told deputies LaHair had been there on June 24 and admitted to “starting the fire on accident.”

A white 1995 Nissan Pathfinder with temporary New Mexico tags registered to LaHair was found parked behind a fence at the property.