| Old Fire | |
|---|---|
| Location | San Bernardino Mountains |
| Date | October 25, 2003 17:37 (PDT) |
| Burned area | 91,281 acres (369.40 km2) |
| Ignition source | Arson |
| Land use | Mixed, residential and wildlands |
| Fatalities | 6 |
The Old Fire was a wildfire that started on October 25, 2003 in the San Bernardino Mountains, in San Bernardino County of southern California.
It was one of over a dozen wildfires burning in Southern California wildlands at the same time. This included the huge Cedar Fire, the second largest fire in California's history after the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889.
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Fanned by the Santa Ana winds, the Old Fire burned 91,281 acres (369.40 km2), destroyed 993 homes and caused 6 deaths. The fire threatened San Bernardino and Highland, as well as the mountain resort communities of Cedar Glen, Crestline, Running Springs and Lake Arrowhead and forcing upwards of 80,000 residents to evacuate their homes. Part of California State University, San Bernardino burned during the fire.
The fire was fully contained by November 2, 2003 with the help of rain and snow.[1] The final cost of the fire was $42 million. The Lake Arrowhead community is now part of a Redevelopment Agency which is controlled by a Board of Supervisors.
A USFS report on the "true" combined costs of the 2003 Old Fire, Padua, and the Grand Prix wildfires (the Grand Prix Fire merged with the Old Fire and the part of the Grand Prix Fire that crossed into Los Angeles County was known as the "Padua Fire") was nearly $1.3 billion. When cleanup, watershed damages and other costs are considered beyond the expenses for firefighting and property damage, wildfire impacts are much higher. About 750,000 acres (3,000 km2) were blackened across five southern California counties.[1]
On August 7, 2007, local newspapers reported that 25-year-old Jeremiah D. Hope, of Riverside faced federal charges for starting a blaze that eventually merged with the Old Fire. Authorities said Hope had been evacuated from his Crestline home when he and some friends off-roaded onto dry vegetation in order to get a better view of the Old Fire. The vehicle's catalytic converter reportedly sparked a second fire near Playground Road, which firefighters dubbed the Playground Fire. That fire quickly consumed forest land and later became part of the Old Fire. Hope faced misdemeanor counts of causing the National Forest to burn without a permit and one count of placing a vehicle in a dangerous area.
In 2009, Rickie Lee Fowler was charged with igniting the Old Fire. Authorities believed that he was a passenger in a vehicle that was seen leaving the area where the fire started; the driver of the van, Martin David Valdez, Jr., died of a gunshot wound in 2006. A grand jury indicted Fowler October 19, 2009, with one count of arson of an inhabited structure, one count of aggravated arson, and five counts of murder.
On January 21, 2010, the San Bernardino County prosecutor announced that he would seek the death penalty.[2] Fowler recanted his confession saying that he had admitted to the crime only to appease authorities so that he could be transferred to a prison closer to his mother.[3]
In September of 2011, Fowler moved to dismiss the indictment because the prosecutors had failed to present exculpatory evidence to the grand jury.[4] [5] The trial is scheduled for early 2012.
The murder victims identified were Charles Howard Cunningham, 93, of San Bernardino; Ralph Eugene McWilliams, 67, of Cedar Glen; Chad Leo Williams, 70, of Crestline; James William McDermoth, 70, of San Bernardino; and Robert Norman Taylor, 54, of San Bernardino. All five victims died from indirect consequences of the fire, due to physical or emotional strain.[6]
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