Man accused of setting bosque fire in Northwest Albuquerque

Police arrested a man who allegedly set fire to the bosque Saturday afternoon in Northwest Albuquerque.

Rebecca Atkins, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson, said 45-year-old Sean Taylor was in custody. Court records show Taylor, who has no criminal history, is charged with arson (over $2,500 in damage), a third-degree felony.

A witness initially told police Taylor wasn’t the man he saw leave the bosque with a lighter in his hand, but then identified Taylor as the suspect after he got closer to him, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Taylor denied starting the fire but told police he had a lighter in his backpack.

The small fire near Alameda was only the latest in a string of human-caused fires set along the Rio Grande over the past week.

Four total fires were extinguished in the bosque between Monday and Thursday, two near Montaño and two near Tingley Beach. Albuquerque Fire Rescue officials have said those fires were “without a doubt” human-caused and agencies had beefed up riverside patrols to spot blazes.

Atkins said APD is investigating whether Taylor had anything to do with two of those fires, “however at this time, they do not suspect him.”

Around noon on Saturday, police responded to a fire on the east side of the river near Alameda amid reports of a man with a dog and camouflage backpack leaving the area with a lighter, according to the complaint. Bernalillo County deputies found Taylor north of the fire near a drainage ditch.

Police said a witness told them a man had walked away from the area where the fire was set with a lighter in his hand. Taylor was released after the witness initially couldn’t identify him as the suspect. However, as Taylor walked by the witness, he changed his mind.

The witness told police he could not see Taylor “that well when he first tried to identify him,” according to the complaint. Taylor told police he saw a man walking around with burnt paper in his hands and dropping ashes from the paper in the bosque.

Police said an open space biologist told them, “every acre of land that is destroyed on the Rio Grande costs approximately $5,000 to clean and restore the wildlife.”

Atkins said did not say what additional evidence tied Taylor to the blaze.

“Thanks to the quick action and determination of our officers, we were able to identify and apprehend a suspect before more damage was done,” said APD Chief Harold Medina. “The bosque is one of Albuquerque’s most cherished natural spaces, and our Open Space officers are essential to protecting it — not just from wildfires, but from those who seek to harm it intentionally.”