Desert Dispatch : Elderly man arrested in string of High Desert fires

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Desert Dispatch : Elderly man arrested in string of High Desert fires

Desert Dispatch : Elderly man arrested in string of High Desert fires:

HINKLEY — San Bernardino County arson investigators and sheriff’s deputies linked a recent fire on the corner of Lenwood Road and Agate Road and the flare-up of six other High Desert wildland fires to one man.

On Thursday, deputies arrested Filimon Griego, 74, of Oro Grande, for suspicion of causing seven wildfires along roadways in Helendale, Hinkley and Barstow.

Tracey Martinez, a spokeswoman for the county fire department, said similar ignition methods found at all seven sites led investigators to connect the fires. Further evidence found at the scenes, Martinez said, implicated Griego in the fires.

According to a county fire department report, the fires began on Sunday. Firefighters contained the seven separate fires to only about a quarter of an acre each, the report stated. Martinez said no dollar amount was established for damages.

Sal Corrao, division chief with the Barstow Fire Protection District, said he believes the district assisted on two related fires on Thursday. The district’s fire prevention specialist also assisted the county in the investigation. Tire tracks and footprints found at the scenes compounded the evidence pointing toward an intentionally set fire, he said.

“Anytime you have wildland fires in the desert, it is either accidental or intentional,” Corrao said. Instances of the desert spontaneously combusting are rare, he said, unless the wind blows down a power line. Cases of arson in the area are also unusual, he said; most wildfires are accidental.

County investigators also determined the fires were not actually acts of arson. Jody Miller, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department, said Griego is being charge with reckless burning of wildland.

“The amount of intent was not there to warrant an arson charge,” Miller said.

Martinez said Griego was arrested, cited and then released due to medical conditions. The charge will be forwarded to the district attorney, Miller said, and could be increased to arson.

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How fires get their names

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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Sunday, April 29, 2007