As California fires rage, arson suspect arrested

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By JULIE WATSON and ELLIOT SPAGAT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A man was charged with setting one of nearly a dozen fires that have destroyed homes and raced through nearly 20,000 acres of northern and eastern San Diego County brush land, but most of the blazes seemed to be dying down, despite the eruption of a new fire at the Camp Pendleton Marine base.

Thousands of firefighters and fleets of water-dropping military and civilian helicopters planned fresh battles Saturday. Investigators, meanwhile, continued to seek the causes of the conflagrations that burned at least eight homes and an 18-unit condominium complex, emptied neighborhoods and spread fields of flame, smoke and ash that dirtied the air in neighboring Orange County and as far north as Los Angeles County.

Alberto Serrato, 57, pleaded not guilty Friday to an arson charge in connection with one of the smaller fires, a 105-acre fire in suburban Oceanside that started Wednesday and is fully contained.

Tanya Sierra, a spokeswoman for the San Diego County district attorney's office, said witnesses saw Serrato adding dead brush onto smoldering bushes, which flamed up. He has not been connected to any other fire, Sierra said.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140517/california_wildfires-214da0e1a5.html

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Smoke plumes rise behind the Marine Corps Camp Pendleton entrance Friday, May 16, 2014, in Oceanside, Calif. San Diego County officials said Friday five wildfires have been 100 percent contained. Still, crews were focusing efforts on two large fires {2014} one in the city of San Marcos and two blazes at the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. One charge can be the tip of the iceberg so prosecute to the full extent. Make an example.

Where there is one charge for one fire, the arsonist has probably been responsible for other fires in the past. It is hard to catch arsonists, and so there needs to be a careful and determined effort to prosecute the arsonist to the full extent of the law and exact maximum penalties because that will be the best deterrence to other arsons and arsonists.

Fire is extremely brutal.

[Helen Borg]

2. Is this a wealthy area?

With all the people without hope out there who have been robbed of everything by the system (including their mental health), I'm surprised there isn't much more of this going on. Not just in CA, everywhere, and not only involving fires.

[Bee_stung]

5. Suprisingly, for the most part

at least for the significantly sized fires it does appear the intent was directed more that way. The ignition points were set with knowledge of what direction the wind strikes during santa anas as well as being placed at the bottom of some rugged canyon and hillside areas. Very peculiar how the fires started from a circuitous route beginning the day at where the 15 intersects the 76 then headed west on the 76 hit a few more places in the san luis rey area of oceanside came back down the 5, made a minor detour in a ritzy area in carlsbad and came back to the 78 to head east back to the 15 and start the big one in san marcos - this also in an area of some wealth. a lot of big contractor types have some large spreads in the hills and a real yuppy area nearby on the other side of the hill from the campus. the timing started just like a clock in reverse, right along this circuited route. Just think of how fast this could be done in these windy-dry-hot-brushy conditions if you had some yahoos with a bucket of burning coals and a wrist-rocket driving out to create mayhem. (and no, just because i can consider the ease of this and *some* of the misplaced justification; couldn't ever bear the thought to the wildlife devastation and unintended damage to outlying neighborhoods - which is where most of the san marcos fire went to - sleepy earthy horse corral lower income area.)

since I don't know how to attach an image in the body here, this will have to do as for a depiction of the route I was addressing

[link:https://maps.google.com/maps?q=92056&ll=33.224903,-117.181892&spn=0.251298,0.528374&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Oceanside,+California+92056&gl=us&t=m&z=12|

[Brother Buzz]

7. Suprisingly, for the most part, the wealthy homes are located in areas with a lot of fuel

Occam's razor

[WhiteTara]

3. Stupid people do stupid things.

Last summer, on the hottest day of the year, at the hottest part of the day, during a fire ban, my teenage neighbor set a brush pile fire and then left it to go off to some appointment. The father was told by the fire starter that he had done this and the father "forgot" or didn't listen to the kid or just didn't care, but he too left and the fire raged across the meadow between our houses with a row of pine trees separating our houses.

No house burned, I saved the row of trees and it ended okay, but stupid people do stupid things.

Remember the woman who torched most of the mountains around Big Bear? She wanted to roast a hot dog on her camping trip. When the fire started, she drove away.

Some arsonists set fires intentionally, but most of them are set by stupid and careless acts. Another case for awareness classes and reverence for Earth courses in school.

[Bee_stung]

6. I sure hear ya

I found it so odd. Right as the fires here started, everybody had to drag out and run all their power tools. I'm sure a few of these were people panicking to create defensible spaces at a late stage with chainsaws & weedwackers, but so much of the noise was power saws, sanders and various other power tools. I would say the power tool activity seems to always jump 3 fold on extreme fire hazard days. What is with that? Kind of like people having the urge to jam up the roadways during the worst time possible because the need to feel to be a part of it, I suppose. We are a deranged form of monkey.

[WhiteTara]

8. If a metal blade strikes dry grass

that's another fire.

[Doctor_J]

4. Darrell Issa, at it again