Fawn Fire burns 100 structures near Shasta Lake in California

A 30-year-old woman has been arrested for starting the blaze

9:18 a.m. PDT September 26, 2021

Fawn Fire map, 9:43 p.m. PDT Sept. 25, 2021
Fawn Fire map. The red line was the perimeter at 9:43 p.m. PDT Sept. 25, 2021. The black line was the perimeter about 24 hours earlier. The darker red areas indicate intense heat when the fire was mapped.

The Fawn Fire north of Redding, California grew by about 1,000 acres Saturday to bring the size up to 8,537 acres Saturday night. All of the growth was on the north side where it reached the shore of Shasta Lake west of Ski Island, and on the northeast side near Bear Mountain Lookout Road and west of Silverthorn Road.

For the second time it spotted across the lake onto an island, which is 500 to 1,000 feet away from the mainland. However with the lake as low as it is, that distance may be much shorter, or non-existent.

Below is a zoomed-in archived satellite photo overlaid with areas of intense heat in red.

North edge of the Fawn Fire, mapped
North edge of the Fawn Fire, mapped at 9:43 p.m. PDT Sept. 26, 2021

Fire officials report that 131 structures have been officially documented as destroyed, with 44 of them being residences. CAL FIRE Damage Inspection Teams are still assessing the affected areas.

Starting late Monday morning, there is a chance for rain through mid afternoon Tuesday. Unfortunately, this will only produce 0.1 inch over the fire area, but the increased moisture should moderate fire behavior.

Fawn Fire Sept. 26, 2021
Looking toward the Fawn Fire from the Highland Trail camera pointing northwest at 9:08 a.m. Sept. 26, 2021. AlertWildfire.

Resources assigned to the fire include 12 helicopters, 201 engines, 46 dozers, 30 water tenders and 49 hand crews for a total of 1,886 personnel.


9:25 a.m. PDT September 25, 2021

Fawn Fire map 921 p.m. PDT Sept. 24, 2021
Fawn Fire map 9:21 p.m. PDT Sept. 24, 2021. The dark red areas had intense heat when the fire was mapped Friday night.

The Fawn Fire has burned approximately 25 residences and 75 other structures just north of Redding, California according to fire authorities. When it started Wednesday afternoon it grew very rapidly but slowed after reaching the north-facing slopes above the shore of Shasta Lake. Friday night it was mapped at 7,544 acres and was active on the west side near Radcliff Road and on the northeast side west of Juniper Drive and Bear Mountain Lookout Road.

Saturday morning live cameras showed very dense smoke in the area which would prevent aircraft from assisting firefighters on the ground.

A map showing the evacuations that are in effect is available at the Redding website.

Friday night the fire was four miles north of Highway 299 and was east of Interstate 5 and a large powerline right-of-way east of the Interstate. It was north of Bear Mountain Road.

Alexandra Souverneva
Alexandra Souverneva. Photo by Roseburg Police Dept..

Fire investigators arrested 30-year old Alexandra Souverneva of Palo Alto, California for starting the fire. She was booked into the Shasta County Jail charged with arson and a special allegation for starting a fire during a state of emergency.

KRCR reported that Souverneva was seen in the general area where the fire started earlier in the day. When questioned by investigators while the fire was burning she was carrying a lighter and said she was hiking because she was trying to get to Canada.

From KRCR:

[Souverneva] said she was thirsty and had found a puddle in a dry creek bed but that it contained bear urine. She said she tried to filter the water using a tea bag but that didn’t work so she tried to start a fire to boil the water. She said it was too wet to start a fire so she drank the water and continued walking uphill.

Souverneva is suspected of starting another fire in the nearby city of Shasta Lake on September 21.

On September 12, 2021 Souverneva was arrested in Oregon, for Criminal Trespass, 2nd Degree according to the Douglas County Sheriff. She was released the following day.

Man arrested for starting the Hopkins Fire in Calpella, California

Will be charged with parole violation, aggravated arson (multiple structures), arson of an inhabited structure, and arson during a state of emergency

3:16 p.m. PDT Sept, 15, 2021

Hopkins Fire
Hopkins Fire, looking southeast from Ridgewood Grade at 3:39 p.m. PDT Sept. 12, 2021.

On Tuesday September 14, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and officers from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s office arrested a person for starting the Hopkins Fire that on Sunday burned numerous structures and 257 acres in Calpella, California.

During a briefing at the Incident Command Post on Tuesday, an officer from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office announced the status of the case.

Investigators recovered footage from a security camera at a local business that showed an adult male starting the fire. Tuesday morning one of the investigators saw that person in downtown Calpella who was then contacted and identified as Devin Lamar Johnson, a 20-year old male from Ukiah, California. Mr. Johnson was on probation in Mendocino County for an attempted robbery charge.

After fire investigators and Sheriff’s detectives followed up, Mr. Johnson was arrested and placed in the Mendocino County Jail on a no bail status to be charged for parole violation and three arson charges: aggravated arson (multiple structures), arson of an inhabited structure, and arson during a state of emergency.

Mr. Johnson may have been photographed watching the fire in a photo taken by Peter Armstrong.

Hopkins Fire map
Hopkins Fire map. The icons represent heat detected by satellites as late as 4:53 a.m. PDT Sept. 13, 2021.

Update, September 16, 2021: The Press Democrat reported yesterday a damage assessment found that 30 homes and 16 other structures were destroyed in the Hopkins Fire.

Former university professor charged with arson near the Dixie Fire

He is being investigated for possible links to five fires

Gary Maynard arson photograph of the Ranch Fire
Exhibit 2 in the Gary Maynard Detention Memo, showing the Ranch Fire shortly after it was discovered. Gary Maynard is charged with starting the fire. Photo courtesy of US Attorney’s office.

A 47-year old man has been arrested for starting a vegetation fire not far from where the 501,000-acre Dixie Fire is burning in Northern California.

Gary Stephen Maynard was charged with starting the Ranch Fire on August 7 and is suspected of starting the Moon and Conard Fires in the same area on August 5 and 7, respectively. He may be linked to two other blazes in Northern California.

Lauren Horwood, Public Information Officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, told Wildfire Today that at a detention hearing today in Sacramento the judge decided to hold him without bond. He is scheduled for preliminary examination on August 24.

Mr. Maynard is a former instructor at universities in California including Santa Clara and Sonoma State.

From CNN:

Maynard was a part-time lecturer at Sonoma State University in its Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice during the fall of 2020, a university spokesperson told CNN. He taught two seminars on the topics of criminal justice and deviant behavior, according to school officials. Maynard was filling in for a faculty member who was on leave and was not reappointed for Spring 2021, the school spokesperson said.

Sonoma State University welcomed him as a new lecturer on August 31, 2020. Their description:

Dr. Gary Maynard graduated from Bowling Green State University, University of Alaska Fairbanks and Stony Brook University. He has three master’s degree (political science, theater arts, and sociology) and a Ph.D. in sociology.  His teaching and research focus on the following topics: sociology of technology/social media, social psychology, sociology of health, deviance and crime, sociology of the mass media, youth and adolescence, global sociology, environmental sociology, the sociology of sports, the sociology of drug abuse and alcoholism and quantitative research methods.

Investigations are still ongoing. On August 8 a federal agent applied for a warrant to search Mr. Maynard’s vehicle, including the contents of his cell phone and a computer which were clearly visible in his vehicle.

He has not been charged with starting the Dixie Fire, but is being investigated for his responsibility in starting five others. They were all suppressed before growing large, in part because for some of them his vehicle was being tracked and arson investigators had access to the approximate location of his cell phone every 15 seconds. In a couple of cases US Forest Service Agents reported them immediately, were the first on scene, and did what they could to knock down the blazes until firefighters arrived.

Here is a breakdown of the five fires to which he is allegedly linked:

Cascade Fire, July 20, 2021

Mr. Maynard first came into the picture on July 20, 2021 when US Forest fire investigator Brian Murphy was investigating the Cascade Fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest on the western slope of Mt. Shasta about 110 air miles northwest of the Dixie Fire. A black Kia Soul vehicle registered to Mr. Maynard was stuck in a rut on an unmaintained Forest Service road about 200 yards from the fire. He refused to identify himself to Investigator Murphy but it was later determined that it was Gary Stephen Maynard, a former university professor. Mr. Maynard asked the Special Agent to pull his vehicle out of the rut, but the Special Agent replied that he was not allowed to tow vehicles. Mr. Maynard’s uncooperative and agitated behavior led Investigator Murphy to conclude it was safest to distance himself from this man, and left the scene, but prior to departing he took a photograph of the stuck vehicle.

Another person in the area told investigators they had seen Mr. Maynard walk toward the general area where the Cascade Fire later started. In addition, two other small fires were discovered, one on each side of the road near where Mr. Maynard’s vehicle had been parked. Both contained what appeared to be burned newspaper and had self-extinguished. Tire tracks left at the scene were examined, measured, and photographed.

Everitt Fire, July 21, 2021

The next day, July 21, 2021, similar tire tracks left by a vehicle with the same wheel base were found at the Everitt Fire, another arson fire on the western slopes of Mt. Shasta in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

Investigator Murphy applied for and received search warrants for the near-real-time location of Mr. Maynard’s cell phone and to attach a tracking device to his vehicle. After locating him using the cell phone data, two police officers pulled him over. While they were talking with him, Investigator Murphy installed a magnetic vehicle tracking device under the rear portion of the vehicle.

Map Maynard fires arson
Exhibit 1 in the Gary Maynard Detention Memo. Map showing the locations of the Moon, Conard, and Ranch Fires. Courtesy of US Attorney’s office. The map was originally created to show the perimeter of the Dixie Fire.

Moon Fire, August 5, 2021

The scenario described in the criminal complaint about another fire, the Moon Fire, was very different. Data from the tracking device showed that Mr. Maynard’s vehicle, while driving north on Mooney Road in the Lassen National Forest, passed the location where the Moon Fire was discovered soon after. The data showed the vehicle drove by the location at 55 mph, but did not stop — until traveling another 3/4 mile where it pulled over on the shoulder of the road for one minute and eight seconds at the end of a long straightaway. The investigator wrote in the complaint that the parking spot offered a view of the Moon Fire. The blaze started on the driver’s side of the road, which, Investigator Murphy said, “offered the opportunity to deliver an aerial ignition device from the driver’s side window.”

A nearby USFS Officer helped contain the fire, followed by a responding engine crew, limiting it to about five feet wide. Investigators narrowed the cause down to arson.

Ranch Fire, August 7, 2021

On August 7 the Ranch Fire (see photo above) started northwest of Susanville, California off Highway 44 in a very remote area where tracking showed Mr. Maynard’s vehicle had been parked for 28 hours. Investigators following and tracking Mr. Maynard called the location “Campsite 2.” This was northeast of the huge very active Dixie Fire and in an area closed to the public because of the fire. The new fire was discovered and reported by Investigator Murphy as he hiked to the site to look for tire track impressions. He wrote in the complaint:

As I neared Campsite 2, I observed a large column of grey and black smoke rising from the forest. I ran back to my vehicle and proceeded to notify the local USFS Fire Dispatch Center. I then returned to the fire, later named the Ranch Fire, and observed the wildfire burning along the forest floor, trees, and brush—an area that consisted of approximately ½ to 1 acre in size. I then observed the tire track impressions that had been left behind by the SUBJECT VEHICLE, which were located at the edge of this new wildland fire.

A CAL FIRE investigator determined the fire to be arson.

Conard Fire, August 7, 2021

Six minutes after he left the location of the Ranch Fire, Mr. Murphy’s tracking data showed that he stopped at another location for about 30 minutes. After he departed, an agent found what was later named the Conard Fire which burned about an acre very close to where the vehicle had been parked. Like the other fires, no obvious ignition device or technique was found, but all possible causes were eliminated except for arson.

Similar to many arsonists, after Mr. Maynard left the Conard Fire, he returned a few hours later, possibly to see the effects of his fire-setting. With the reports of multiple suspicious fires, state and local law enforcement officers responded to the area. A California Highway Patrol officer pulled him over for his unauthorized presence in the closure. After detecting the possible odor of marijuana, the officer used that as probable cause to search for open containers of marijuana; one was found and the officer issued a citation.

When questioned by US Forest Service agents, Mr. Maynard gave them incorrect information about his travels in the previous 24 hours that was not consistent with the tracking data. He denied setting any fires and, at one point, stated that if the agents were going to accuse him of starting fires that he would defend himself in court. Lassen County Sheriff Deputy Steven Lawton booked him in to the Lassen County Jail for violating California Penal Code 409.5, unauthorized entry into a closed emergency area. Later that evening, Deputy Lawton advised Mr. Maynard that a felony charge of arson (California Penal Code 451) was being added. At that point, Deputy Lawton said that Mr. Maynard became enraged and began kicking the jail cell door and screamed, “I’m going to kill you, f****** pig! I told those f****** I didn’t start any of those fires!”

U.S. Forest Service Agents conducted an extensive resources-intensive effort to track Mr. Maynard’s vehicle and were waiting in shifts nearby to track his movements and discover any fires he set. These were extraordinary precautions that were necessary because of the difficulty of finding someone in the forest without a tracker and the speed with which a fire can grow during a period of drought with hot, dry, and windy weather.

Considerations for holding Mr. Maynard in jail

The detention memo obtained by Wildfire Today laid out several reasons why Mr. Maynard should not be released while awaiting trial. Below are quotes, excerpts from the Detention Memo filed August 10, 2021:

  • “First, arson is a dangerous crime and it is a crime for which it is particularly difficult to fashion conditions of release. Here, the nature and circumstances of Maynard’s arson offense show that he is particularly dangerous, even among arsonists. Over the course of the last several weeks, Maynard has set a series of fires in the vicinity of the Lassen National Forest and Shasta-Trinity National Forest. As the Court is likely aware, California is in the middle of a drought and a particularly early and difficult fire season consistent with the effects of climate change. The Wildland Arsonist: One of the Most Dangerous Criminals, WILDFIRE TODAY, Feb. 23, 2021, available online at https://wildfiretoday.com/2021/02/23/the-wildland-arsonist-one-of-the-most-dangerous-criminals (last viewed Aug. 10, 2021).
  • “Words cannot describe this additional threat to firefighters and other emergency personnel as effectively as the map attached as Exhibit 1 to this memorandum [above]. The map shows the boundaries of the Dixie fire where firefighters are laboring to protect the public at significant personal risk. The map also shows where Maynard set fires on August 5th and 7th behind those fire lines. Maynard’s fires were placed in the perfect position to increase the risk of firefighters being trapped between fires. But for the dedication and efforts of U.S. Forest Service investigators working around the clock to track Maynard, those fires would not have been discovered in their infancy. With Maynard’s growing fires at their backs, firefighters would have been placed at much greater risk.
  • “Agents had installed a tracker on his vehicle. Where Maynard went, fires started. Not just once, but over and over again. As a result, the evidence is strong and Maynard will be convicted if he chooses to go to trial.
  • “Maynard’s ties to the community also appear weak. He was living out of his car alone and traveling across large sections of Northern California. Maynard appears to have had difficulty holding a teaching job at the various universities at which he has taught. Therefore, this factor favors detention.
  • “Finally, Maynard poses a particular danger to the community. He is a serial arsonist, during a dangerous time for state and the public from wildfires. Wildfires can and do kill Californians and destroy their homes. Virtually entire towns have been destroyed already this year as well as in prior fire seasons. Moreover, the manner in which Maynard chooses to set his fires is particularly dangerous to first responders who are already stretched thin fighting large fires.”

Sheriff’s office searching for arsonist at Palisades Fire in SoCal

A suspect was arrested Sunday afternoon

Updated at 5:01 p.m. PDT May 17, 2021

Palisades Fire
Palisades Fire, looking northwest from Temescal Trailhead at 4:14 p.m. PDT May 17, 2021.

The Los Angeles Fire Department announced Monday morning that an adult male suspected of igniting the Palisades Fire was detained, questioned and then arrested Sunday afternoon by LAFD Arson Investigators. Ralph M. Terrazas, Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a 10 a.m. press conference on Monday that personnel in a Police Department helicopter observed the ignition of the fire, as well as a second ignition later but lost sight of him in the smoke and dense brush. The suspect was treated Sunday for smoke inhalation.

The intensity and spread of the fire slowed considerably Sunday night and Monday. As predicted, the visibility improved Monday afternoon enough to allow the use of three fixed wing air tankers which dropped retardant to assist firefighters on the ground. They supplemented the work being done by helicopters that have been dropping water. The fire has burned 1,325 acres.

There has been no change in the existing Mandatory Evacuation orders in the County of Los Angeles or the Evacuation Warning in the City of Los Angeles.

No structures have been damaged. One firefighter sustained a minor injury.


Updated at 9:52 p.m. PDT May 16, 2021

Palisades Fire May 16, 2021
Palisades Fire, looking west from Green Peak at 7:17 p.m. PDT May 16, 2021.

The active investigation into the cause of the Palisades Fire continues. Arson investigators from the Los Angeles Fire Department detained and released one individual, but at 6 p.m. PDT they announced that they are questioning a second person.

The latest information about the fire puts it at 1,325 acres, but these fire updates have been running many hours behind the actual fire activity.

The weather will turn against the firefighters Monday afternoon when the wind out of the southwest will increase to 10 mph and gusts to 16 mph, with relative humidity dropping into the 50s. The cloud cover will decrease after 11 a.m. which may allow the use of fixed wing air tankers.


Updated at 4:04 p.m. PDT May 16, 2021

LA County helicopter departs 69Bravo Palisades Fire
LA County helicopter departs 69Bravo heading toward the Palisades Fire at 11:59 a.m. PDT May 16, 2021. AlertWildfire photo.

At 3:05 p.m. Sunday the Los Angeles Fire Department reported that the Palisades Fire near Topanga, California was mapped at 1,325 acres.

The Department issued a warning at 2 p.m. Sunday for residences in a portion of The Summit community to be ready to evacuate.

An Evacuation Warning is now in effect for the following area (as shown on the map above): Starting at the 1500 block of Chastain Parkway W – all homes north of Chastain Parkway over to Calle Del Cielo (eastern boundary). The warning area includes Calle De Sarah, Calle Bellevista and all homes West of Calle Del Cielo / Ave Ashley up to the hills.

All residents in this area are asked to prepare for a potential evacuation based on the developing fire activity. Secure your valuables, medicines, etc in your car and be prepared if asked to evacuate.

 

Evacuation warning The Summit
Evacuation warning The Summit, at 2 p.m. May 16, 2021. LAFD map.

The visibility over the fire is not adequate to allow the use of fixed wing aircraft, but helicopters are still assisting firefighters. Departments that sent helicopters include LA FD, LA County, Ventura County, and Orange County.


12:01 p.m. PDT May 16, 2021

Palisades Fire Map
Palisades Fire Map, released Sunday morning May 16, 2021. By LA Co. FD, and LA FD.

No structures have been damaged. One firefighter sustained a minor injury. There are no reported injuries to any civilians.

Continue reading “Sheriff’s office searching for arsonist at Palisades Fire in SoCal”

The Markley Fire, set to cover up a murder, killed two other people

Northern California in 2020

Victor Serriteno
Victor Serriteno, was arrested for starting the Markely Fire in 2020 that killed two people in their homes. Photo: Vacaville Police Department.

A person accused of starting the Markely fire in Northern California in August of 2020 has been arrested for arson and three counts of murder.

The fire started August 18 near the southeast end of Lake Berryessa and grew large quickly during during hot, dry, windy weather. It merged with the Hennessy, Gamble, Green, Spanish, 5-10, and Morgan Fires which were managed under the LNU Lightning Complex.

Investigators say Victor Serriteno murdered Priscilla Castro, a 32-year-old from Vallejo, who he had arranged to meet after finding her on an online dating app.

“We believe Serriteno deliberately set the Markley fire in an attempt to conceal his crime,” Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara said at a news conference Wednesday.

The Markley Fire killed two people in their homes, Douglas Mai, 82, and Leon Bone, 64.

Mr. Serriteno was arrested by Vacaville Police in September and charged with the murder of Ms. Castro. Wednesday the Solano County district attorney’s office added three additional charges, arson and two counts of murder for the two fire victims’ deaths.

LNU Lightning Complex
Some of the fires that were part of the LNU Lightning Complex in 2020.
Markley Fire August, 2020
Markley Fire August, 2020, showing the locations of the deaths of the two people who were killed in their homes.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Jeff.

The wildland arsonist: one of the most dangerous criminals

Arsonist
An arsonist in the midst of setting over a half-dozen fires in dry vegetation during a “red flag” condition in California. Photo courtesy of Jeff Zimmerman

By Joe Konefal and Ed Nordskog

The one criminal who possesses the power of a nuclear weapon at his fingertips is the wildland arsonist.  In certain areas of the world, if the weather and fuel conditions are favorable, a wildland arsonist has the instant ability to burn an entire community to the ground, and kill scores of people, their pets, livestock, and the wildlife in the area.  All of this carnage for the mere price of a match, a lighter or a road flare.

The good news is that there aren’t that many people intentionally setting arson fires in the wildlands, as yearly statistics prove that the overwhelming number of wildfires are not acts of arson.  The less good news is that historically, many of the actual wildland arson cases go “unsolved”.  The reasons for this are many, but one important reason is that compared to their urban counterparts, wildland arson investigators working for public agencies get very little money for resources and investigative training.  Wildland arson cases have two distinct phases; the scene work, and then the follow-up criminal investigation.  Many wildland investigators have a high degree of skill when conducting the “Origin and Cause” investigation at the scene, but they often lack the years of experience and ongoing certified training to pursue the criminal investigation portion of the case.  There are currently very few schools, books, or online sources out there dedicated specifically toward conducting an arson investigation in the wildlands.

That’s too bad.  Analysis of case histories shows that a significant portion of wildland arsons are committed by a small number of persons…the serial arsonists.  The majority of arson series are eventually solved, provided that the arsonist continues setting fires.  It is not unusual for investigators to learn that a single serial arsonist in the wildlands had set twenty to one hundred fires (or more) prior to the arrest.

Threat Assessment

Traditionally, the fire service (urban and wildland) rates arson fires by their damage (dollar loss) or their size in acreage.  This may greatly affect how much attention, manpower, and resources are devoted to an investigation.  But, to an investigator, the size of the fire has very little to do with assessing the threat level of an arsonist, as the size of the fire event is completely out of the hands of the arsonist.  The below factors are much more important to consider when conducting any threat assessment during a wildland arson investigation of an unknown subject.  These factors are important when considering the intent of the arsonist.

-Large number (more than three) of suspicious or arson fires in an area
-Rapid frequency of suspicious or arson fires in an area
-Arson fires purposely set in extreme fire conditions
-The use of an incendiary device by the arsonist

If any of these four factors are present, then even small fires or failed arson events (all serial arson cases have these) are to be considered high threat.  If an investigator determines that an offender is high threat, then the investigator must take immediate steps to approach this investigation as a major case investigation, and employ an arson task force approach to the case.

It is well known among modern criminal investigators that if you dedicate enough resources on any case, you can probably solve it fairly quickly.  The real issue is that public agencies seldom have the luxury to focus on any one case until it gets media attention.  This causes “small” fires set by arsonists to be classified as a “nuisance”, and put on the back burner for weeks or months until the arsonist sets a much larger or more destructive fire.  

Our position is that through training, and a proper threat assessment after every arson event, (small or large), investigators will more quickly focus resources on an emerging problem before the disastrous arson attack takes place.

Arson Task Force Approach and Investigative Mindset

Arson task force
Task Force: Federal and local investigators team up to work a serial arson case. The suspect was convicted for nine fires and had three prior serial arson convictions dating back thirty years. Courtesy Ed Nordskog’s case files.

This investigative mindset simply means treating the case as a major case from the beginning and using sufficient resources to solve the problem.  A task force can be as few as three to four investigators, or up to hundreds of investigators and support personnel.  The key to every task force is simple:  Bring the right people to the team, not the most.  

Continue reading “The wildland arsonist: one of the most dangerous criminals”