Module 3 - Arson and Explosives

Old Fire

In October 2003, an arsonist in the San Bernardino Mountains of California started a blaze known as the Old Fire. The fire burned 369.4 km², destroyed 993 homes, forced nearly 80 000 people from their homes, and caused six deaths and $42 million of damage.

Esperanza Fire

In October 2006, the Esperanza Fire occurred in the Banning area of California. The cost to extinguish the fire was more than $8 million. It burned more than 160 km², destroyed 34 houses and 20 buildings, and killed five firefighters protecting a vacant, partially built home that eventually burned. The firefighters were overwhelmed when the winds shifted and blew a wall of flames towards them. Three of the firefighters died at the scene; the two others were found alive with severe injuries but died later in hospital.

The Arrest

Shortly after the deadly Esperanza Fire was determined to have been caused by arson, a $600 000 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist(s). The reward worked. In early November 2006, law enforcement officials arrested and charged Raymond Lee Oyler, a 36-year-old auto mechanic, with setting the Old Fire, the Esperanza Fire, and 20 other wildfires in the area. In addition to arson, Oyler was charged with five counts of first-degree murder. Fifty-five arson fires were reported from May 2006 until the time of Oyler's arrest. No arson fires occurred in the area after his arrest.

Oyler denied all the charges, telling investigators that, on the night of the Esperanza Fire, he was at a casino, and then he stopped at a gas station before driving to the wildfire to watch it.

The Evidence

Finding evidence in cases of arson is difficult because the fires usually destroy the evidence. However, the forensic arson experts in the Old Fire and Esperanza Fire investigations were meticulous. Consequently, they found several pieces of evidence to support their case.

Serial arsonists are often predictable because they tend to use the same type of incendiary device for each fire. All but one of the fires Oyler was charged with were started with nearly identical homemade incendiary devices consisting of five to seven paper or wood matches attached around a Marlboro cigarette with duct tape or a rubber band. When the cigarette was lit, it burned slowly until it reached the matches, ignited them, and started a brush fire. Each device allowed a time delay of more than 10 minutes, during which Oyler would leave the scene and create an alibi. On cigarette butts in two of the incendiary devices found, investigators discovered DNA evidence that matched Oyler.

Investigators also had video footage from secret cameras atop utility poles that filmed Oyler's car leaving the scene of one of the fires. Ironically, surveillance videos from the casino and the gas station that Oyler said he was at during the Esperanza Fire showed he was not at either location during these times.

Oyler’s cousin and his girlfriend provided evidence that incriminated Oyler. Both acknowledged that Oyler owned a book called Anarchist Cookbook that discussed how to make devices to start fires. They acknowledged that he had boasted about lighting fires. Four days before the Esperanza Fire, Oyler said he wanted to set some fires near an animal facility where his pit bull was being held after it had bit a woman.

The Trial

At the trial, Oyler's sister testified that he was at home when the Esperanza Fire began. Despite this testimony, in 2009, a jury convicted Raymond Lee Oyler of five counts of first-degree murder, nineteen counts of arson, and sixteen counts of possessing incendiary devices. The court sentenced Oyler to death despite the pleas of Oyler's lawyer that he should receive a reduced sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Criticism

After the tragic death of five firefighters in the Esperanza Fire, many criticized the decision to send a firefighting crew to protect a single vacant, partially built house. Some suggested that firefighters should not be sent to protect vacant houses or isolated individual homes. If this suggestion had been followed, five firefighters would very likely be alive today.