Justin Wayne Halstenberg, 34, has been held without bail as the prime suspect in the Line Fire, which has burned 34,000 acres (13,700 hectares) in the San Bernardino County Mountains. Halstenberg was arrested Tuesday by San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies, who worked with detectives to track down the suspect. Authorities have not immediately said how Halstenberg started the fire, which began spreading rapidly Friday and is only 14% contained.
The fire caused the California government to mobilize the National Guard and issue an evacuation order for thousands of people in the town of Highland due to “an imminent risk of death.” The wildfire tripled in size thanks to the heat wave that Southern California has experienced since last week. Three firefighters were injured in the first hours of fighting the flames. More than 20,000 students were left without classes on Monday and more than 35,000 structures are still under threat in several communities near Big Bear, a popular mountain tourist area.
Highland authorities and Cal Fire investigators tracked a vehicle near the scene of the blaze on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 5. The license plate of the car was tracked by security cameras until it led officers to Halstenberg’s residence in the town of Norco, near Riverside. A search of the vehicle found evidence linking Halstenberg to the fire. Officers are not ruling out the possibility that Halstenberg may have started other blazes. Investigators declined to provide details, saying the case is still open.
The judge initially set bail at $80,000 when Halstenberg was arraigned. However, a few hours later he was denied the option to continue the trial at large. “I am very proud of this investigation. People will want to know who is responsible for this and why. And thanks to what we have been doing, we will be able to have that level of justice for them,” said Shannon Dicus, the sheriff of San Bernardino County, on Wednesday.
This is not the first time this California fire season that authorities have held a defendant responsible. In July, in northern California, police arrested a 42-year-old man for deliberately starting the Park Fire, which grew to become the fourth largest in California history.
Some 3,100 personnel are currently working to put out the Line Fire. Cal Fire officials say they are having a difficult time fighting it because many of the flames are currently in hard-to-reach areas. Since Monday, they have had a Blackhawk helicopter helping to deliver water to the area and two C-130 aircraft dropping firefighting chemicals. The governor of California has also mobilized 80 soldiers to assist with the efforts.
Without truce
The heat wave that hit California for six days facilitated the growth of several incidents. Firefighters and crews are now working on fronts that are only multiplying thanks to the warm temperatures. The south of the state is experiencing three large fires on Wednesday, the Line, Bridge and Airport fires, affecting four high-density counties, including Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange.
The Bridge has surpassed the Line in size. In just three days, it has burned 49,000 acres, almost 20,000 hectares. Authorities have issued evacuation orders for 18 areas northeast of Los Angeles and another six in Bernardino Springs. The flames have reached some homes, cars and some barns high in the San Gabriel Mountains. Smoke has deteriorated the air quality in much of the state’s largest city.
California is only just beginning to face the brunt of the fire season, when the warmer summer months have dried grasses and plants in green areas, leaving more fuel to react to any spark or lightning. Even though experts say the worst is yet to come, the state has already suffered three times as much burned area as in all of 2023, which was a wet year.
The other major fire affecting the area is the Airport Fire, which has burned about 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares). It apparently started Monday after a piece of heavy equipment working in Orange County struck a spark. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was at 0% containment. A Cal Fire spokesman said eight firefighters suffered injuries from the high temperatures. One person was also poisoned by smoke.
The White House has said that President Joe Biden is closely monitoring the development of the fires in the West. The president has asked the population to follow the instructions of local authorities, including evacuation plans. The federal emergency response agency, FEMA, has already mobilized resources to fight several fires. Idaho, Oregon and Nevada are also fighting the advance of the flames. A fire in Reno, Nevada’s second largest city, has led to the evacuation of some 20,000 people.
