Blog article: City of Malibu to Post Reward for Info on Corral Fire Perpetrators

Editor: Did burning Marshmallow projectiles cause the terrible losses in the Malibu Corral fire?

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Source article: Malibu surfside news

City of Malibu to Post Reward for Info on Corral Fire Perpetrators

• Investigators Comb Clues that Could Lead to Partygoers Who May Have Started Blaze

BY HANS LAETZ

The Malibu City Council is slated to establish a special reward fund at its meeting next Monday and approve a $10,000 allocation for information that “directly leads to the arrest and conviction of a person or persons found to have caused” the Corral Fire two weeks ago—a fire that may cost upwards of $100 million.

Meanwhile, intensive scrutiny continues of the Corral Canyon site where the blaze that claimed over 4900 acres and destroyed or damaged 90 structures is believed to have started.

In addition, cash register data, credit card records and video surveillance pictures from Malibu supermarkets have been examined by arson detectives, an official has confirmed.

And a firefighter from Northern California, the most seriously injured person, has returned to his home in rural El Dorado County to continue recovering from facial burns suffered protecting a Malibu house.

Rumors have swept the community that youthful partygoers purchased firewood, marshmallows and party supplies at a Malibu supermarket the night of Friday, Nov. 23, just hours before fire swept down Corral Canyon.

“Investigators have looked at receipts and financial data, and this information is unquestionably going to lead us to the persons we need to talk to,” said Los Angeles Sheriff’s spokesperson Steve Whitmore.

The sheriff’s spokesperson would not address rumors that firewood and snacks—including marshmallows—purchased at Ralphs Supermarket in Malibu Colony were matched with evidence recovered at the fire origination point. The rumors have been embellished with unsubstantiated reports that lit marshmallows were used as projectiles based on where the burnt confections were found.

Arson detectives had clustered around the series of rock formations and caves overlooking the San Fernando Valley, at the north end of Corral Canyon Road, in the immediate aftermath of the fire. The caves and secluded views on state parkland have attracted hundreds of young adults on prior full-moon nights, prompting complaints from nearby residents that State Parks Department rangers need to crack down on the situation.

Whitmore would not confirm that tire impressions were collected by the dozen or so arson investigators who were combing dirt roads near the caves after the fire. Television helicopters captured pictures of deputies apparently pouring a white substance onto the dirt at the parking lot.

“All I will say is that investigators are using every single tool available in this case,” Whitmore said. “We have received literally scores of substantial tips that we’re following.”

Up to now, arson investigators will only confirm that the fire was caused by human activity, leaving open the possibility of either an accident or deliberate action. Whatever happened, the fire started on State Parks property where open flame is prohibited during a Santa Ana wind when the fire danger is highest.

The fire swept south from the cave area at about 3 a.m., Nov. 24, and in the next four hours inflicted the worst damage to Malibu since the 1993 fire that claimed nearly 400 homes. One firefighter suffered facial burns, and a total of eight were injured.

Los Angeles County firefighters are still calculating losses for the Corral Fire, which may total over $100 million once value of the 53 destroyed houses are added in to the 34 that suffered severe damage, and the dozens of destroyed power poles, cable lines and vehicles are factored into the total.

El Dorado County firefighter Scott Herzog returned home to the Sierra Nevada foothills last week, after spending nearly a week at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital. Herzog was one of the Cal Fire strike team members pre-positioned in Camarillo when the Santa Ana winds were first hinted at in long-range weather forecasts.

Herzog’s engine company had just arrived at a house in Latigo Canyon when it was engulfed. “I looked down at my arms and I saw fire, I looked down at my legs and my pants and I saw fire, fire, fire,” he told reporters at his home fire station near Sacrmento last week.

The flames inflicted second-degree burns on Herzog’s face, but a full recovery is expected, he said.

In other fire related news, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is working to coordinate the myriad public agencies—some of them working at cross purposes—in the Santa Monica Mountains region to come up with unified policies on fire planning.

Some residents and Malibu officials have complained that they are being prevented from trimming brush within mandatory clearance buffer zones because of environmental concerns voiced by the California Coastal Commission.

Yaroslavsky’s field coordinator, Susan Nissman, said a January meeting will “outline a strategy for creating a Santa Monica Mountains Fire Safe Council Alliance, which will include all the stakeholders in the north Santa Monica Mountains region.”

“The wildland urban interface issues that this region confronts requires a collaborative approach that includes vegetation and fire management planning among all the stakeholders and setting priorities and goals we can all work on together,” she said in a letter to Malibu City Council members.

posted by MalibuSurfsideNews