LOS ANGELES, July 1: Another federal employee appeared in a federal court Sunday on charges of arson for deliberately starting the second in a string of the worst-ever wildfires to ravage the bone-dry western United States.

A Bureau of Indian Affairs contract firefighter appeared in a Flagstaff, Arizona, federal court on charges he deliberately started the Rodeo wildfire that, since it merged last weekend with the Chediski fire, has devoured more than 181,000 hectares of the southwestern US state.

US Attorney Paul Charlton said the arrest late Saturday of Leonard Gregg, who has also admitted to starting another, smaller fire, was based on evidence that “indicates that (he) started the fire so as to earn money as a contract firefighter.

“This fire started with a profit motive behind it,” Charlton said. A US magistrate ordered Gregg held without bond.

The 29-year-old resident of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation is the second US government employee charged.—AFP