Man pleads guilty to E. Oregon arson fires, faces more Friday
HEPPNER, Ore. -- A man who set at least six fires in Eastern Oregon last year pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted arson and was sentenced by a Morrow County judge to 4½ years in prison.
Authorities say 22-year-old Joshua Lee Kent of Irrigon and another man drove from Fossil to Arlington, setting fires along the way that burned more than 400 acres of sagebrush and grazing land.
The fires might have damaged three houses if not for the intervention of firefighters and a homeowner who battled a blaze himself.
Police caught Kent when his car got stuck in the sand near one of the fires. Investigators say Kent was the main culprit; co-arsonist Jonathon Parrish pleaded to a lesser charge and received nine months in jail.
Kent faces an additional set of arson charges Friday in Gilliam County.
