California Police Say Arsonist Attacked with Samurai Sword

Thursday, May 17, 2007

California Police Say Arsonist Attacked with Samurai Sword

California Police Say Arsonist Attacked with Samurai Sword - Firehouse.com News:

"Authorities continued searching Wednesday for an arsonist with a samurai sword who sliced a man's arm and set fire to a pair of bungalows on the grounds of a church in Lake View Terrace, near Los Angeles.

Los Angeles police and firefighters went to All Nations Church at 10000 Foothill Blvd. at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday after a man dressed in Army fatigues went inside and brought his samurai down on a man playing the drums, said Officer Karen Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department's media relations unit.

The sword sliced the man's arm when he tried to block the blow, Smith said, adding he was transported to a hospital for treatment. He has since been released.

The man then fled the building and police chased him for a short time before he ran into a storm pipe and got away, she said.

City fire spokesman Ron Myers said the man also apparently set fire to two one-story bungalows on the church's property. Firefighters had the flames under control within 30 minutes, he said.

The House of Worship Task Force, a federal agency formed to investigate church fires, and the Los Angeles Fire Department are investigating the crime, Smith said. There was no immediate indication of the assailant's motives.

The attacker is described as a man in his 40s with tattoos on both arms."

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Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

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Thursday, May 17, 2007