5 Arson Arrests In California Fires - None Linked To Major Blazes
October 25, 2007
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Arson investigations and arrests continue in California with reports of 5 people being taken into custody so far. None however have been linked to any of the major blazes. The Seattle Intelligencer provide the following summary:
Meanwhile, a fire chief expressed outrage over a blaze that investigators say was intentionally set in the foothills of Orange County and destroyed nine homes. The fire, he said, diluted suppression efforts elsewhere in the region.
“I wonder frankly, if we didn’t have this fire … how many of our resources might have been available to respond to other parts of the state and how many people might be alive today,” said county fire Chief Chip Prather, as authorities announced $150,000 in rewards for information in their probe.
Wildfires have burned about 753 square miles and destroyed about 1,800 homes throughout the region, causing at least three deaths from flames. Two of the fires, in Orange and Riverside counties, are believe to be the work of arsonists.
Since the fires began Saturday, authorities have stepped up patrols in hopes of preventing copycat fires and looting.
San Diego County officials have reported scattered instances of looting in fire zones and illegal immigrants posing as evacuees to wrangle free food and supplies at Qualcomm Stadium. Drunken drivers and curfew violators also have been arrested in evacuation areas of the fire-scarred San Bernardino Mountains.
The latest arrest came Wednesday after witnesses spotted 41-year-old Catalino Pineda starting a fire on a San Fernando Valley hillside and then walking away, Los Angeles police said.
Witnesses alerted authorities and followed him to a nearby restaurant where police arrested him.
Pineda, a Guatemala native, was booked for investigation of arson and held on $75,000 bail. He’s currently on probation for making excessive false emergency reports to law enforcement, police said.
Two others, an adult and a juvenile were arrested Tuesday for allegedly starting a small fire in the San Diego suburb of Vista. Still two more arrested in San Bernardino County earlier this week were charged with arson counts for setting blazes.
A sixth man was shot to death by police after he fled officers who approached to see if he might be trying to set a fire.
In Orange County, authorities declared arson as the cause of a 23,000-acre blaze based on evidence showing two distinct ignition points.
About 55 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, as well as the FBI, have joined the investigation, and officials have received some 250 tips. However, there are no suspects in the case.
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