A man who set three fires in five weeks last year became the first person convicted under an arson law that created stiffer penalties for people caught deliberately setting fires.

Christopher A. Buckley, 43, pleaded guilty yesterday to three counts of second-degree arson, a Class B felony, before O'ahu Circuit Court Judge Steven Alm.

Buckley, 42, faces up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine on each of the counts. Buckley is being held in lieu of $35,000 bail and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 22.

He admitted setting fire to a gas pump at a Shell gas station in Kane'ohe on July 22 and again July 30, as well as igniting a garbage can in the Kane'ohe post office July 30. He was charged Aug. 31, 2006, with three counts of second-degree arson.

He has seven prior convictions, including first-degree felony theft, second-degree felony forgery, and third-degree criminal property damage, a misdemeanor.

He also has four misdemeanor criminal contempt-of-court convictions.

The new law was enacted in June 2006 after police and fire officials lobbied for penalties more severe than those handed down for criminal property damage, which was how deliberately set fires had been classified.

Cases of arson on O'ahu rose for the fourth year in a row in 2006, according to FBI statistics.

No one was hurt in any of the fires Buckley set. But police said in court documents that several people had to flee after a gas pump was set on fire at the Shell station, at 45-457 Kamehameha Highway.

According to a police affidavit, Buckley entered the station's food mart about 7:30 p.m. on July 30, 2006, and paid for $2 worth of gasoline.

Buckley, described as a frequent customer by a store employee, poured gasoline on the ground near a pump and ignited the gas, a witness told police, according to court documents.

Buckley then got into a 1989 Dodge pickup truck and fled, according to the affidavit. A store clerk shut down the gas pumps, and employees extinguished the blaze.

The owner of the station watched a surveillance tape and identified the suspect as Buckley, police said.

About 50 minutes after that fire, police said a man set fire to a rubbish can at the post office, which is a few blocks from the gas station. A witness dragged the burning can out of the building before the fire did any damage.

A description of the suspect matched Buckley, and police went to his home on Meli Place in Kane'ohe and arrested him. Police said Buckley was wearing the same clothing as the man seen on the gas station surveillance tape.

Police also ran a check on criminal activities at the gas station and determined that a similar arson case occurred there July 22 and that the suspect in that case also matched Buckley's description, according to court records.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.