Riverside, Calif. – A man accused of starting a raging California wildfire that killed five firefighters was likely experimenting with different arson methods as early as five months before the fatal fire, a state fire investigator said Monday.
Capt. Charlie Dehart of the California Department of Fire and Protection testified during a preliminary hearing for arson suspect Raymond Lee Oyler that he found the remains of cigarette-and-match devices at fires in the area as early as last May 16.
Oyler, a 36-year-old auto mechanic from Banning, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of using an incendiary device and 23 counts of arson, including the deadly Esperanza Fire. Oyler was arrested Oct. 31 after a wind-whipped fire raced through the foothills near Banning, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, overrunning the firefighters as they attempted to protect a house.
The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether there is enough evidence against Oyler to proceed to trial.
Oyler was originally charged with five counts of first-degree murder, 11 counts of arson and 10 counts of using an incendiary device. Prosecutors filed 19 new counts against him last week, saying they have linked him to 23 arson fires in all. He entered a plea of not guilty to the new charges at a brief arraignment before the preliminary hearing began Monday.
A sheriff’s report last week said Oyler’s cousin told investigators the suspect spent an entire night one week before the deadly blaze “casing the area” for a good arson site.
Investigators say Oyler’s girlfriend told them he wanted to start a fire as “a diversion” so he could get his pit bull out of the Banning Animal Shelter.
