Rogues’ gallery of fire-starters: Drunks, arsonists, firefighters — even a country star — linked to blazes
The good news is that arson, compared to accidental fire-starting, is rare. The bad news is that climate change is creating more frequent hot, dry conditions that make all human-caused fires more likely.
In one of his signature songs, Johnny Cash drawls about shooting a man in Reno just to watch him die. In real life, the country star unintentionally ignited a California wildfire that threatened to wipe out the state’s iconic, endangered condors.
Under circumstances not unlike the famed musician’s mishap, a Chico man stands accused of starting the Park Fire, now California’s fourth largest on record.
Arson suspect Ronnie Stout and the Man in Black are among a rogue’s gallery of accused California fire bugs — some of them careless, others arsonists, a few of them firefighters — whose actions wrought destruction and in some cases death.
Nineteen out of 20 wildfires in California are started by humans, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. And researchers at UC Irvine concluded in a study published in 2022 that fires started by people — typically in hot, dry conditions with plenty of vegetation ready to burn — expand more explosively than those sparked by lightning.
Ronnie Stout
The Chico man is charged with arson in the Park Fire that has ravaged more than 400,000 acres and burned many homes. Last month, his car allegedly became stuck on an unpaved road and, “heavily intoxicated,” he gunned the engine trying to get free, sparking flames. Authorities say he then pushed the burning vehicle down a ravine.
Edward Wackerman
The former firefighter in 2022 was accused of setting the Oak Fire near Yosemite National Park, which injured three people, destroyed 127 homes and burned nearly 20,000 acres, forcing a huge evacuation. In February, he pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of felony arson.
Alexandra Souverneva
The troubled former Palo Alto biotech employee is accused of starting the 2021 Fawn Fire near Redding that injured three people, burned 185 structures and blackened 8,578 acres of forest. After spending time in a state mental hospital, Souverneva is awaiting trial.
David Smith
He and his son Travis were charged with starting the massive, 222,000-acre Caldor Fire in 2021 near Lake Tahoe during target shooting. It injured 21 people and destroyed more than 660 homes. They pleaded not guilty to reckless arson, and a judge dropped the case for insufficient evidence, though the elder Smith still faces a charge of possessing a gun silencer.
Gary Maynard
The former criminal justice adjunct faculty member at Santa Clara University went on an arson spree in the area of the 2021 Dixie Fire near Lassen National Park and Redding. Tire tracks found at fires led investigators to put a tracking device on his Kia Soul. Charged with setting four blazes, he pleaded guilty to starting three and was sentenced to five years and three months in prison.
Refugio Jimenez Jr. and Angelina Jimenez
The pair of prison guards held a gender-reveal photo shoot for their soon-to-be baby near San Bernardino, but the pyrotechnic device they used for colored smoke ignited dry grass on a blistering day, setting off the 22,700-acre El Dorado Fire in 2020 that killed a firefighter. Refugio pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to a year in jail. Angelina pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges and received a year’s probation.
Ivan Gomez
He set the Dolan Big Sur Fire, which seriously injured a firefighter, killed a dozen condors and destroyed 10 homes in 2020. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison on charges that included animal cruelty related to the endangered birds.
Eric Michael Smith
The Redding man in 2019 and 2020 set 11 fires in Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Arrested after police put a tracking device on his vehicle, Smith was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.
Glen Kile
The rancher was pounding a metal stake into the ground amid dried grass to block a wasp nest, sparking the 2018 Ranch Fire, which killed a firefighter and scorched more than 400,000 acres. The New York Times spoke with Kile, who was determined to be responsible for the fire, but not negligent. He was not charged.
Damin Pashilk
He was arrested on suspicion of setting more than 15 fires in Lake County in 2015 and 2016, and pleaded no contest to igniting four, including the 4,000-acre Clayton Fire that burned 188 homes and 10 commercial buildings. He was sentenced to 15 years and four months in prison.
Zane Peterson
The former firefighter in 2013 deliberately set the 8,073-acre Clover Fire near Redding and six smaller fires. The Clover Fire killed a man who refused to evacuate and destroyed nearly 70 homes. Peterson was sentenced to 44 years in prison.
Channing Verden
The Los Gatos contractor was originally charged with felony reckless burning and a related misdemeanor for allegedly leaving a fire burning while clearing land in the Santa Cruz Mountains and sparking the 2008 Summit Fire that destroyed dozens of homes. Prosecutors dropped the charges after finding Verden was not negligent.
Brian Anderson, William Coppock, Brian Franks, Dean Lavorante and Eric Ullman
The five men were partying in a cave near Malibu and left a bonfire smoldering that ignited the 2007 Corral Canyon Fire that forced thousands of people to evacuate and burned 53 homes. Anderson and Coppock were sentenced to a year in jail, while Franks, Lavorante and Ullman each got five years’ probation.
Robert Eason
The former volunteer firefighter set a dozen wildfires — one killing more than 200 sheep — by driving around rural Yolo County throwing burning mosquito-repellent coils from his car in 2006. Sentenced to 40 years in prison, Eason was approved for parole in 2022.
Raymond Lee Oyler
During Santa Ana winds, Oyler, prone to setting blazes with a cigarette, ignited the 41,000-acre Esperanza Fire in Riverside County in 2006 that killed five firefighters. He was sentenced to death in 2009 and is currently imprisoned.
Matt Rupp
The father of six picked the wrong time to cut dry grass with a riding mower near Redding. His mower in 2004 hit a rock and sent a spark that started the 10,000-acre Bear Fire, which injured 10 people and destroyed more than 60 homes. Rupp served two years in prison.
Sergio Martinez
Described by Cal Fire as a “really bad hunter,” he got lost on a 2003 hunting trip in San Diego County and set a fire to signal for help. The ensuing 200,000-acre Cedar Fire killed 15 people. Martinez, remorseful, was sentenced to a 6-month prison work program.
Rickie Lee Fowler
Fowler became enraged after a family friend evicted him, and deliberately tossed a flare into brush at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains, setting off the 2003 Old Fire that killed five people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes. Convicted of murder and arson, Fowler in 2013 was sentenced to death.
Jeffrey Avila
Avila, who leased out firefighting equipment for a living, started a 1996 fire near Big Sur to drum up business, torching 25,000 acres and five homes. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Joy Glassman
The Mount Shasta woman nicknamed Ma Spark in the press confessed to starting several fires in Shasta Trinity National Forest in 1995 to make work for her son, a seasonal firefighter. Glassman pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four months in jail.
Leonard Ross
He started the 1990 Painted Cave Fire in the Santa Barbara County mountains during a feud with a neighbor, whose home was the first of more than 400 to burn in the blaze that killed a woman. The county sued Ross over the fire, and a jury ordered him to pay $2.75 million in damages.
Johnny Cash
The Man in Black agreed to pay an $82,000 settlement for torching more than 500 acres of federal forest land south of Bakersfield in 1965 when his camper truck got stuck on an unpaved road and he gunned the engine trying to free it, according to an FBI memo. Prosecutors said he was “heavily intoxicated.” The blaze burned near a California condor sanctuary, putting 60 of the giant vultures at risk.
Frederick Litke
The day he turned 18 in 1961 he set fire to some brush to help cowboys round up horses in Mariposa County, igniting the Harlow Fire that killed two people and burned 43,000 acres. Despite an alleged confession, a grand jury dropped arson and murder charges, and a trial jury acquitted him of starting the fire.
Stanford Pattan
He threw a burning match out his car window in the Mendocino National Forest in 1953 to create a job for himself at a fire camp, and started the 1,300-acre blaze that killed 15 firefighters fleeing wind-driven flames. Pattan was sentenced to three years in prison.