PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — A former firefighter applicant, along with another man, was arrested as part of an arson case in Prince George's County, Maryland, that stems from last month.
Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department said that 19-year-old Giancarlo Reyes of New Carrollton and 20-year-old Francis Ortiz-Oro of Washington DC were arrested for intentionally setting fire to a vacant house in Lanham on January 20, around 2 a.m.
Reyes is the man who also was an applicant with PGFD. He was reportedly hoping to work as a volunteer firefighter at the West Lanham Hills Volunteer Fire Department, officials said. Reyes was not accepted in May 2019, after a background check was conducted and his volunteer application was denied in January 2019.
While the fire burned that early morning in the 9500 block of Wellington Street, officials believe that Reyes drove back to the area after setting the fire. This is where investigators believe he walked up to the house to make sure the fire was growing. A neighbor would call not long after Reyes left for a second time to report the fire.
Reyes and Ortiz-Oro have been charged with 1st and 2nd degree arson. Ortiz-Oro has also been charged with malicious destruction of property. Both men are being held without bond at the Department of Corrections in Upper Marlboro.
This is still an active investigation, according to PGFD.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Office of the Fire Marshal at (301)-77-ARSON (27766).
