A 49-year-old Waipahu man arrested Wednesday on a trespassing charge is a "person of interest" in a rash of wildfires in the Waiawa Ridge area this summer, Honolulu police said last night.

Maitland E. Silva Jr. was arrested at about 4 p.m. Wednesday under the H-2 Freeway on a dirt road leading to the Waiawa area, police said. He was booked on one count of second-degree criminal trespassing and driving without a license, both misdemeanors, and released on $2,000 bail.

Silva lives on Kahuahele Street, near where some of the fires occurred and was arrested in the area, police said. Police said they wanted to question Silva in connection with the fires, but he was not arrested on any arson counts.

Since Aug. 5, there have been 11 brushfires in the former sugar cane land near the H-2, and fire investigators believe that most were intentionally set. The fires did not result in injuries or property damage.

On Sept. 11, police and fire officials announced a joint task force to investigate the fires. Since then, there have been no reports of major brushfires in that area.