Prosecutors will review the evidence before deciding whether to charge
a boy whose play with matches started a blaze that ripped through
nearly 60 square miles and destroyed 21 homes, authorities said
Wednesday.
"It was a child-set fire, but it is not clear what his
intentions were at this time," said Bill McSweeney, chief of the Los
Angeles County sheriff's homeland security department.
McSweeney said the boy was 12, but other media reports said he was 10.
The conflicting information could not immediately be clarified.
The boy admitted to starting the fire in north Los Angeles County after
arson investigators determined the blaze began Oct. 21 outside his Agua
Dulce home. The home was not damaged, said Los Angeles County fire
Capt. Michael Brown.
The prosecutor's office was "not sure whether they'll bring any charges, given that it was an accidental fire," Brown said.
Prosecutors were set to evaluate evidence in the case as investigators
continued to question what started more than 15 major wildfires last
week. Downed power lines, arson and construction workers have been
blamed with starting five other fires that destroyed some 2,100 homes
and blackened 809 square miles from Los Angeles County to the Mexican
border in the past 10 days.
State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner estimated that damage from
the fires, most of which were contained by Wednesday afternoon, would
exceed $1.5 billion.
Investigators blamed an arsonist for setting a fire in Orange County
that blackened nearly 45 square miles and destroyed 16 homes.
Authorities had sought the driver of a pickup truck spotted in a canyon
area around the time the fire broke out. The truck was located and its
owners interviewed, but they were not considered arson suspects, said
Kris Concepcion, Orange County Fire Authority battalion chief.
Workers using grinding tools on a construction site on Oct. 21 were
blamed for a fire near the Magic Mountain theme park in the Santa
Clarita Valley that scorched more than 4 square miles over the next few
days.
Investigators determined that power lines toppled by the powerful Santa
Ana winds were behind a 14-square-mile fire in San Diego and a
7-square-mile blaze in Malibu.
A 91-square-mile blaze in northern Los Angeles County and eastern
Ventura County had earlier been listed as fully contained, but
officials said Wednesday that containment was actually at 97 percent. A
fire in San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles, was also 97 percent
contained.
A mandatory evacuation order was set to be lifted Thursday morning for
burned areas near Running Springs and Arrowbear, San Bernardino County
fire spokesman Jerry Rohnert said. The Green Valley Lake area was still
being assessed.
Across the region, at least 127 evacuees remained in four shelters.
Also Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed state officials to
prepare for a new round of possible fires in Southern California as
forecasters predicted moderate Santa Ana winds later in the week.
"We are not out of the danger zone yet," Schwarzenegger said at a
meeting with the state National Guard, Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection and Office of Emergency Services.
State fire officials were deploying firefighting planes and helicopters
in fire-prone areas, according to the governor's office. The National
Guard also planned to deploy 1,500 Guardsmen and six helicopters to
respond to possible flare-ups.
The governor's announcement came amid criticism of state officials
after Marine, Navy and National Guard helicopters were grounded because
personnel required to be on board weren't immediately available.
The Associated Press reported last week National Guard's two newest
C-130 cargo planes couldn't help because they had yet to be outfitted
with tanks needed to carry thousands of gallons of fire retardant.(abc)
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