Record Acres Burned By Arson In California. 133 Suspects Arrested By CAL FIRE... So Far.

CAL FIRE investigators have been busy finding arsonists and building cases against them this year. The total number of acres lost by arson this year in California is off the charts. In the last seven years, cumulative acres lost by arson on State ground hasn’t surpassed 45,000 acres. One arson fire this year was ten times that. Let’s dive into this year's numbers, which have been updated to October 31st.

In 2024, one arson fire alone, the Park Fire in Butte and Tehama counties, burned nearly 430,000 acres. Not all of those acres were on state-only land; a good chunk was on the Lassen National Forest, but the state numbers will likely see a huge increase in 2024.

The suspect in this case, Ronnie Dean Stout II, was in court recently. He has been accused of lighting his mom’s car on fire and pushing it down a 60-foot embankment near Alligator Hole in Upper Bidwell Park. His attorney asked to postpone any hearing on the charges until after the holidays. That hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 10, 2025, at 8:30 a.m.

This ended up being the 4th largest fire in California’s history and the largest arson fire ever.

That is just one of 133 arrests made by CAL FIRE investigators as of October 31st. This is way above average compared to previous years, but it is still under the 162 arrests made in 2022, a record year for arson arrests. Multiple investigations are still open, and two months remain in the data collection, so these numbers will likely increase before the year is over.

The Line Fire burned nearly 44,000 acres in San Bernardino, and an arrest was made against 34-year-old Justin Wayne Halstenberg. Halstenberg has pleaded not guilty in the case, but investigators say they have extensive evidence pinning him to the fire’s origin.

In testimony, investigators say Halstenberg tried at least three times to start a fire in that area. Fire resources extinguished the first attempt before it was established. The alleged second attempt was stomped out by a local resident who came across the fire shortly after it was started. And then, as they say, the third time’s a charm.

Investigators say they were able to narrow down the suspect by combining street cameras in the area and remote license plate reading tech to find a white truck owned by the suspect. They discovered incendiary devices, which they described as “coins wrapped in legal paper,” that were lit on fire and tossed in light flashy fuels.

A DNA lab was used to determine whether biological evidence could be found on the coins. Investigators say a DNA profile matching Halstenberg’s was found on the coins.

Just recently, a suspect who had previous arson charges for starting wildfires in 2004 was once again arrested for starting multiple fires in Northern California. Donald Shaw Anderson, 41, has plead not guilty in connection with two fires near Clear Lake, one started in September and the other in October.

In 2004, he was arrested for starting over a dozen wildfires and was sentenced to 17 years in prison—clearly a serial arsonist.

The Thompson Fire, which started outside Orriville, California, and burned nearly 4,000 acres, was allegedly started by 26-year-old Spencer Grant Anderson. Anderson was recently in court and admitted to CAL FIRE investigators that he bought fireworks and was driving around Cherokee Road “testing them” by throwing them out of his car window.

Once again, in this case, investigators used street cameras to narrow down possible cars in the area and determined that Anderson’s Toyota sedan was the likely origin of the incendiary devices. The Thompson Fire destroyed 34 structures, 13 of which were primary homes.

You also had the California firefighter accused of starting five wildfires while off duty. This suspect was a part of the California firefighter inmate program and had been recently hired after his release.

The total cost of just these fires alone was $500 Million.

I know some folks like to say wildfire arson is not a problem, and we don’t need to focus on how these fires started… but I think it’s important to highlight. Even one of the speakers at a wildfire summit I attended this week said the cause of the ignition is not important. More on that soon.

However, when the number of arson acres and arrests starts to increase year over year, I think the subject needs attention. Especially when firefighters are injured on these fires and homes are being lost.

The cost alone should raise people's eyebrows. And the downstream effects are enormous. The Governor declared a state of emergency, insurance and housing costs increased, and federal funds are being used to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars to help with fire recovery from these incidents.

Gianni Muschetto, Cal Fire's chief of law enforcement, was asked why these suspects were lighting these fires; he had a few reasons. Some were trying to cover up other crimes, some were attempting insurance fraud, and the fires got out of control, but most were started by individuals who were "driven by some excitement they get out of it."

That’s very concerning.

As of today, total acres burned in California are down against the 5-year average, but interestingly, the total number of fires that started is significantly higher than the 5-year average. There have been 7,636 fires so far this year compared to 7,201 for the 5-year average, with a month and a half to go.

But it’s hard to ignore that the largest arson fire in California’s history occurred this year, which ended up being the 4th largest wildfire ever in California.

When your arson fires are catching up with your lightning fires… you have a problem.

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