A 19-year-old 'Ewa Beach man was arrested yesterday in connection with a July 6 brushfire that investigators said was deliberately set just a couple of miles from the suspect's home.

The Ihipehu Street man was arrested at the Kapolei police station at 1:35 p.m. and booked on two counts of first-degree reckless endangering, which is a class B felony, and a fireworks violation. He was released without being charged a half-hour later.

Police arson Detective Eric Yiu said the man was among several men who were seen driving near the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station July 6 and throwing fireworks from a vehicle. A witness provided a partial description of the vehicle to police and they were able to track down its owner, Yiu said.

Police questioned a family member and several other males, and the 19-year-old yesterday admitted that he was the one who tossed the fireworks, Yiu said. The fire did not damage any property, but military housing is nearby.

"By their action, they recklessly endangered life and property," Yiu said. None of the other males was arrested, he said.

Honolulu firefighters have been kept busy this summer battling a slew of brushfires across the island. Investigators have said that many appeared to have been set intentionally.

Yesterday's arrest is the second this year of a person suspected of setting a brushfire. On May 19, a 13-year-old Nanakuli Intermediate School student was arrested and accused of setting a fire that burned 3,000 acres at the back of Nanakuli Valley.

A few days later, another teenage boy turned himself in, telling police he was playing with fireworks that inadvertently started a brushfire in Kalaeloa. The boy was released and the case turned over to federal authorities because the fire occurred on military land.