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Sheriff charges Oyler for Esperanza Fire
11 a.m Thursday, Nov. 2
By
J.P. Crumrine
Assistant Editor
Today, Riverside County Undersheriff Neil Lingle announced the arrest of Raymond Lee Oyler, 37, Beaumont, for starting last week’s murderous Esperanza Fire.
“In the early morning hours of Oct. 26, John Hawkins [Riverside County fire chief] and I knew an arsonist was responsible for the Esperanza Fire. This was intentional and resulted in the murder of five Forest Service firefighters,” Lingle said at the press conference.
Oyler will be charged with five counts of murder, 11 counts of arson and 10 counts of using incendiary devices.
Rod Pacheco, Riverside County district attorney-elect, described the fire as a “most heinous crime.” The District Attorney’s office will add two special circumstances to the murder charges. If Oyler is found guilty of murder, this will allow the DA to request the death penalty. During the next 60 days, a special DA team will determine whether to seek the death penalty for “the suspect, soon to be defendant," Pacheco said.
“The lives and tragic death of this five men crew, their murder and now the impact of their death on families, friends, loved ones and children will be weighed,” he said. “We will also seek out the feelings of family members.”
“The arrest helps with some closure and healing we in the Forest Service and families need,” Jeanne Wade Evans, San Bernardino National Forest supervisor said following the announcement. “These have been very difficult days consumed by grieving and mourning, but we realize the extreme amount of work that went into this investigation.”
According to Hawkins, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, fire investigators have been working 24/7 all summer trying to solve a spate of recent fires in the Banning Pass area.
Oyler was initially charged with the Ranch and Orchard fires. He will be arraigned on other charges later today.
Hours after the Esperanza Fire started, five Forest Service firefighters were severely burned by the flames. Jess McLean, Jason McKay and Daniel Hoover-Najera died at the fire site, Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser died only hours later at the hospital. Tuesday evening the fifth firefighter, Pablo Cerda, died at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
Assistant Editor
Today, Riverside County Undersheriff Neil Lingle announced the arrest of Raymond Lee Oyler, 37, Beaumont, for starting last week’s murderous Esperanza Fire.
“In the early morning hours of Oct. 26, John Hawkins [Riverside County fire chief] and I knew an arsonist was responsible for the Esperanza Fire. This was intentional and resulted in the murder of five Forest Service firefighters,” Lingle said at the press conference.
Oyler will be charged with five counts of murder, 11 counts of arson and 10 counts of using incendiary devices.
Rod Pacheco, Riverside County district attorney-elect, described the fire as a “most heinous crime.” The District Attorney’s office will add two special circumstances to the murder charges. If Oyler is found guilty of murder, this will allow the DA to request the death penalty. During the next 60 days, a special DA team will determine whether to seek the death penalty for “the suspect, soon to be defendant," Pacheco said.
“The lives and tragic death of this five men crew, their murder and now the impact of their death on families, friends, loved ones and children will be weighed,” he said. “We will also seek out the feelings of family members.”
“The arrest helps with some closure and healing we in the Forest Service and families need,” Jeanne Wade Evans, San Bernardino National Forest supervisor said following the announcement. “These have been very difficult days consumed by grieving and mourning, but we realize the extreme amount of work that went into this investigation.”
According to Hawkins, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, fire investigators have been working 24/7 all summer trying to solve a spate of recent fires in the Banning Pass area.
Oyler was initially charged with the Ranch and Orchard fires. He will be arraigned on other charges later today.
Hours after the Esperanza Fire started, five Forest Service firefighters were severely burned by the flames. Jess McLean, Jason McKay and Daniel Hoover-Najera died at the fire site, Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser died only hours later at the hospital. Tuesday evening the fifth firefighter, Pablo Cerda, died at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
J.P.
Crumrine can be reached at jp@towncrier.com.
Raymond Lee Oyler
Esperanza Fire Information
Tuesday, Oct. 31, 7:15 p.m.
Fifth firefighter expires
By J.P. Crumrine
Assistant Editor
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center reported that Pablo Cerda, 23, of Fountain Valley, the fifth firefighter burned in the Esperanza Fire last Thursday, has died tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 31. Cerda had severe burns all over his body and never improved from his initial critical condition.
Cerda joins his engine mates, Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, Jess McLean, Jason McKay and Daniel Hoover-Najera, in death.
Law enforcement officials believe the fire was caused by arson and a reward of $500,000 is available to anyone with information. The arson tip line is (951) 922-7116.
J.P. Crumrine can be reached at jp@towncrier.com.
Fifth firefighter expires
By J.P. Crumrine
Assistant Editor
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center reported that Pablo Cerda, 23, of Fountain Valley, the fifth firefighter burned in the Esperanza Fire last Thursday, has died tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 31. Cerda had severe burns all over his body and never improved from his initial critical condition.
Cerda joins his engine mates, Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, Jess McLean, Jason McKay and Daniel Hoover-Najera, in death.
Law enforcement officials believe the fire was caused by arson and a reward of $500,000 is available to anyone with information. The arson tip line is (951) 922-7116.
J.P. Crumrine can be reached at jp@towncrier.com.
Monday, Oct. 30, 2006,
7:30
p.m.
Containment 100%
This
Fire is beat!!
By
J.P. Crumrine
Assisant Editor
Assisant Editor
This is exactly what Hawkins told Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Sunday afternoon. Yesterday, CDF and the combined incident team attacked it with force and manpower, the results made Hawkins very optimistic Sunday morning, a noticeable change in his voice and tone from Thursday evening.
“We’re in good shape and I expect good things,” he added.
4:51 p.m., Friday, Nov. 3, 2006
Caltrans is hoping that the traffic escorts for traveling Highway 243
from Twin Pines to Banning will no longer be necessary by the end of
next week, according to Traci Peterson, Caltrans information officer.
The actual repairs may continue for several weeks, but travelers'
inconvience should be minimized within the next week.
7:31 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2006
1,754 personnel on the fire
$9.9 million cost
34 homes lost
7:32 p.m., Monday, Oct. 30, 2006
Containment: 100%
1:55 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, 2006
By J.P. Crumrine
Assistant Editor
At 6 p.m. Monday, Highway 243 will be fully open to the public. Currently,
the Banning to Twin Pines and Idyllwild to Poppet Flat sections are open to
residents.
As of early morning, the Esperanza Fire is 90 percent contained and the acreage burned is 40,200. There were no additional acres burned yesterday.
Incident command structure was confident enough yesterday to release about 400 firefighters, leaving about 2,420 firefighters in the area to complete the containment. The estimated cost has already exceeded $8 million. Four lives lost and 34 structures were the bigger toll of the Esperanza Fire. An additional 14 firefighters suffered injuries stopping this fire.
The Hemet evacuation center at Hemet High School has been closed.
Community meeting scheduled
Fire officials have scheduled a meeting for residents of the Twin Pines, Poppet Flat, Silent Valley and Rancho Encino neighborhoods to discuss the Esperanza Fire and conditions. Riverside County officials will be available to answer questions.
The meeting is from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1 at the Banning Community Center, 789 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning.
J.P. Crumrine can be reached at jp@towncrier.com.
11:45 a.m. Monday, Oct. 30, 2006
Fire has now consumed 40,200 acres.
It is 90% contained. Full containment expected by 6 p.m.
There are 14 minor injuries.
10:45 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, 2006
By J.P. Crumrine
Assistant Editor
Firefighters gained the advantage over the Esperanza Fire Saturday. As of Sunday, morning the burnt area remained at 40,450 acres, but more importantly the containment had grown to 70 percent.
In less than three days, more than 2,800 firefighters from throughout California had been struggling and battling the fire’s heat, the winds and the resultant erratic and unpredictable behavior.
“The fire seems to jumping retardant lines as if they didn’t exist,” said Pat Boss, acting public information officer for the San Jacinto Ranger District.
Nevertheless with the aid of new technology, the DC 10 which carries 12,000 gallons of retardant, 10 times the volume of the S2 Tanker, and with a tremendous effort from traditional firefighting resources — hand crews — the Esperanza Fire was stopped at Highway 79. Its open path to Moreno
Valley and Riverside was closed and the fire bottled up on the west.
Now firefighters are concentrating on Castile Canyon on the fire’s eastern flank.
“The weather is cooperating for now,” said Capt. Julie Hutchinson, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) information officer. “We could really use that humidity we talked about yesterday.”
While firefighters put their efforts into stemming the fire’s eastern side today, their confidence is apparent today compared to Thursday and Friday. They expect to have the fire fully contained by Tuesday evening. And Hutchinson confirmed that some firemen may be released later Sunday.
“It doesn’t mean we’re over confident,” she added. “We’re still using 67 hand crews.”
Highway 243 will open at 10 a.m. today. Poppet Flat and Twin Pine residents will have access to their homes from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and have to be out by 5 p.m., according to CDF’s Perris information center.
J.P. Crumrine can be reached at jp@towncrier.com.
10:20 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, 2006
40,450 acres burned
60% contained (although there are reports that the fire is 70% contained)
4 fatalities
1 critical injur;y
1 moderate injury
6 minor injuries
9:35 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006
As of 7:00 p.m. today the fire is 60% contained. Full containment is expected on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 6:00 p.m.
1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006
Silent Valley must be out by 3 p.m. Saturday
By J.P. Crumrine
Assistant Editor &
Marshall Smith
Staff Reporter
Idyllwild is not threatened by the Esperanza Fire at this time.
The Poppet Flat and Twin Pines neighborhoods have been evacuated.
Riverside Sheriff’s Department went door to door to effect evacuation around sunrise Thursday. Palm Desert Police were also on the scene assisting.
However, about 2,000 people were trapped inside the Silent Valley Club, a private RV resort in P oppet Flat. While the club is only about 2 miles from Highway 243, the Poppet Flat road was closed, as was Highway 243. While the fire reportedly encircled the club, the people inside felt safe because of the direction of the winds, said Carol Hicks, a volunteer dispatcher at CDF station 63, from inside the shelter on Friday.
Sheriff’s deputies escorted an estimated 2,000 Silent Valley RV park members off the Hill Friday. According to Manager Jane Bryant, all had been evacuated by 4 p.m. after spending a tortuous night surrounded by wall-high flames. Because of the fast moving fire, firefighters made the decision to “shelter in place” all Silent Valley members. Bryant made the estimate of numbers sheltered and then evacuated based on the fact that all campsites had been filled.
The park had advertised to fill all 500 RV campsites for the Halloween holiday: “Oct. 28, 2006. Join your Silent Valley Club family for a spooky good time decorating the park.” What members got instea d was a harrowing Oct. 27 night to remember as the Esperanza Fire swept over them, followed by the Oct. 28 evacuation.
Bryant and Chandler confirmed that RV members, many of whom had evacuated in cars that had been towed behind their rigs, were being escorted back up the Hill Saturday to retrieve their rigs, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. “All RV rigs must be off the Hill by 3 p.m. Saturday Oct. 28,” Chandler said.
Silent Valley rig owners must show their Silent Valley membership cards, and drivers’ licenses to be allowed up the Hill.
The club Web site says the park is closed. “At this time we do not know when we’ll reopen,” it states. The Riverside County Health Department ruled that because of chemicals dropped on the park, the water is currently unsafe and will have to be tested before the park can reopen.
According to a 10 a.m. news release from CDF Incident Commander (IC) Rick Henson and San Bernardino National Forest IC Mike Wakoski, until 3 p.m. Saturday, Poppet Flat and Twin Pines residents will be allowed to access the
condition of their homes, remove personal items and feed or evacuate animals.Only one vehicle per household will be permitted.
Access will only be allowed from Highway 243 in Banning. The California Highway Patrol and Riverside County Sheriff’s Department will operate two identification checkpoints to verify address information to ensure only
residents are admitted into the area.
Representatives from the Riverside County Office of Emergency Services will be in the area to assist residents.
The evacuation order issued Oct. 26 as the Esperanza fire spread remains in effect until further notice.
The San Bernardino National Forest released the names of the four firefighters who lost their lives Thursday morning in the Esperanza Fire. They are:
Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, of Idyllwild, with 21 years of service. He was a certified emergency management technician (EMT). He previously worked on the Vista Grande Hot Shots and as a Riverside County volunteer firefighter. He majored in fire science at Mt. San Jacinto College. Mark was a great supporter and coach for the youth sports program in Idyllwild.
Jess McLean, 2 7, of Beaumont, was the fire engine operator and had seven years of service. He had also been on the Vista Grande Hot Shots for three years. He graduated from Banning High School in 1997 and attended fire science classes at Crafton Hills College.
Jason McKay, 27, of Phelan, was assistant fire engine operator and had five years of service and four years as a volunteer firefighter in Adelanto. He also served on the Mojave Greens Type II crew. He was a certified EMT and had an associate’s degree in fire science.
Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, of San Jacinto, was in his second year of service. He worked on the Tahquitz Type II crew in 2005 and was a seasonal employee in 2006. He graduated from San Jacinto Mountain View High School in 2004.
The name of the firefighter who remains in critical condition is:
Pablo Cerda, 23, of Fountain Valley. He is in his second season of service. He also had previously worked on the Tahquitz Type II crew. He graduated from Los Amigos High School in Santa Ana in 2001 and attended fire academy at Riverside Community College.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the families during this tragic time,” said Jeanne Wade Evans, San Bernardino National Forest supervisor. “All of us on the Forest Service and in the fire service community are suffering a great loss."
“They are all heroes and it’s the saddest day of my career,” Laurie Rosenthal, beleaguered San Jacinto district ranger, said sorrowfully. “We are all family.”
Four firefighters, including Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, lost their lives battling the Esparanza Fire Thursday morning. A fifth crew member is in very critical condition with much of his body burned. Their names have not been released. Loutzenhiser was taken to the Arrowhead Medical Center in critical condition Thursday morning and died that afternoon.
Forest Service Engine crew 57 (fr om the Alandale Guard Station north of Pine Cove) responded to the fire. But at about 8 a.m., a sudden and intense burnover engulfed the crew on San Gorgonio View Road in Twin Pines.
“He wouldn’t have taken his crew into danger,” Pat Boss, acting public information officer on the San Jacinto Ranger District, said of Loutzenhiser.
All local Forest Service crews were pulled from the fire because of the loss of their fellow firefighters and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) took over command of the fire.
The fire has grew fast. It was reported at about 1 a.m. Thursday. At 8 a.m., its size was said to be 800 acres; by 9 a.m., this was revised to 2,000 acres; by 10 a.m., it grew to 3,000; and by 11:30 a.m., it was more than 4,000 acres.
By mid-afternoon, the fire was already at 10,000 acres. At 8:12 p.m., it was a t 24,000 acres, had destroyed 10 structures, and was just 5 percent contained. It is now at more than 39,000 acres and is 40 percent contained.
Part of the reason that the fire traveled quickly was because many of the pine trees in the forest are standing dead and dry due to the bark beetle infestation caused by drought conditions in recent years.
More than 2,000 firefighters are on the scene. Equipment includes 274 engines, 14 helicopters, 14 air tankers, eight water tenders, 20 bulldozers and 47 fire crews, according to Patrick Chandler, CDF information officer. The fire started on Esparanza Road in Cabazon. Fire investigators suspected arson not long after.
As standard procedure, an investigation of the response will occur once the fire is controlled.
The southw esterly winds were very erratic and the fire jumped back to the east side of Highway 243 early Thursday afternoon.
Highway 79 from Beaumont to Hemet and Highway 243 from Banning to Lake Fulmor were closed Thursday. Highway 243 remains closed other than for emergency purposes.
Riverside County Animal Control Lt. Tammera Belmonte arrived at about 6 a.m. Thursday, By 8 a.m. Belmonte evacuated two horses at a location near Highway 243 about 5 miles from Banning. Those horses were transported to the Ramona Humane Society in San Jacinto.
Roughly an hour later, Riverside County Department of Animal Services evacuated two more horses and a llama at a location off Highway 243, about 8 miles from Banning. Those horses and the llama were taken to 1081 E. Westley in Banning.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Thursday authorized federal funds to help California fight the Esparanza Fire.
FEMA Region IX Director Nancy Ward said the state’s request for federal fire management assistance was approved after it was confirmed the Esperanza wildfire drove 200 people from their homes Thursday morning as it raced through the desert hills northwest of Palm Springs.
"It's critical that the men and women who selflessly battle wildfires know they will continue to have the support of the federal government. This declaration is one demonstration of that support," FEMA Director David R. Paulison said. “Our hearts go out to the firefighters killed and injured and their families.”
The authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75 percent of the state’s eligible firefighting costs under an approved grant for managing, mitigating and controlling designated fires.
Riverside County declared a local emergency at about 4 p.m. Thursday. The declaration asked Gov. Schwarzenegger to proclaim a state of emergency in Riverside County. It also requested that the governor seek a presidential emergency declaration for Riverside County.
The state and federal declarations may help Riverside County recover costs associated with fighting the fire. The declarations also could make it easier for homeowners and business owners who suffered property damage to receive federal or state assistance.
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