Yolo County volunteer firefighter sentenced for Arson

A former Yolo County volunteer firefighter convicted of sparking a dozen wildfires in the rural Capay Valley, many of which he later helped battle, was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison.

Last month, jurors found Robert Eric Eason, 39, guilty of starting a dozen grass fires in 2006.

They ranged from small blazes to a hillside inferno that killed 200 sheep and charred 1,000 acres of ranch land.

In a case that relied on the detective work of arson investigators, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Garrett Hamilton told jurors that Eason had started the fires with matches and mosquito coils, slow-burning spirals of a clay like insect repellent.

Once the mosquito coils burned, there would be little left but ash, which was washed away by fire hoses or trampled under foot, investigators said.

Eason became a suspect in the summer of 2006 after roadside cameras showed him making quick trips into a canyon where fires soon started.

A tracking device was attached to Eason's car and recorded his movements using the Global Positioning System.

Evidence showed Eason's blue Ford Tempo driving past sites where flames erupted minutes or hours later. In some cases, he made repeated U-turns near the sites.

Later, Eason would return to fight the flames with other members of the Capay Valley Fire Protection District.

A search of Eason's car and home in October 2006 revealed pieces of mosquito coil and other materials.

Authorities had long suspected a serial arsonist was at work in the narrow winding valley, where Eason started as a firefighter at 18.

His father was a professional firefighter in the Bay Area, and the younger Eason gained a reputation as a dedicated volunteer.

It came as a shock to valley residents when investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection arrested Eason in October 2006.

Hamilton told jurors that Eason had a dark side as a serial arsonist.

Yolo Superior Court Judge Stephen L. Mock, who denied a defense motion for a new trial, said he had no doubt Eason had started the blazes. He then imposed a prison term close to the maximum.
Source: SacBee.com Link