BAKERSFIELD, Calif.
Smoke and fire had the employees at the Farmer Boys restaurant scrambling Sunday night.
"It's scary because it puts everybody in danger," said Farmer Boys manager Sara Argueta.
But it was a scene repeated over and over last night in the area of Columbus and Haley streets in northeast Bakersfield.
The Bakersfield Fire Department believes one man set several arson fires within an hour and a half, setting ablaze different things in different locations.
But Farmer Boys cameras caught him in one of the acts.
"He goes back and looks into a dumpster, and it appears he's setting up the boxes that we have back there in our trash bins and walks away. As soon as he does, you see white smoke coming up and in seconds it starts flaming up," said Argueta.
It all happened in less than one minute.
Bakersfield city fire said all of the fires happened between 6 p.m. and 7:30 pm. Residents in the area are worried.
"Yeah, it's pretty concerning. I wouldn't want that anywhere near my house actually," said nearby resident Corey Ott.
The suspect is described as Hispanic or Caucasian, 5 feett 8 inches tall, and about 250 pounds.
Officials need your help in catching him.
"We're not sure of the motive in this case. Or if there'll be more fires set. So the faster we can identify the suspect, he can be questioned and hopefully we won't have anymore fires in the area," said Ross Kelly of the Bakersfield Fire Department.
Hunt For Northeast Bakersfield Arsonist
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