Murder arson charged in 2003 California wildfire

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Almost six years after a wildfire destroyed nearly 1,000 homes in Southern California, prosecutors say they have enough evidence to charge a prison inmate with arson and murder in connection with the 2003 blaze.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos said Tuesday that a special criminal grand jury indicted Rickie Lee Fowler, a 28-year-old prison inmate, on arson and murder charges in connection to the wildfire that has been linked to five heart attack deaths.

Fowler is serving time in state prison for burglary. He was first interviewed in connection with fire in February 2004, based on a telephone tip, but there was not enough evidence to charge him, San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Vic Stull said.

The investigation began to gain steam in February 2008, and new evidence obtained as recently as three weeks ago allowed prosecutors to identify Fowler as a suspect, Stull said.

He faces five counts of murder, one count of aggravated arson and one count of arson of an inhabited structure. The statute of limitations on arson would have run out on Oct. 25.

The notorious Old Fire erupted in the Waterman Canyon area of the San Bernardino Mountains above the city of San Bernardino and eventually swept across 90,000 acres, or about 140 square miles.

Several witnesses reported seeing a passenger in a white van tossing burning objects into dry brush. In late 2004, authorities said they were focusing on a young man they believed may have been the arsonist and were trying to identify a second man but did not have enough evidence to make arrests.

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Nature Disastrous in Fire

Fire plays an important role in most forest ecosystems in Canada. As these ecosystems have evolved over the last 10,000-15,000 years (since the glacial retreat at the end of the last ice age), fire has helped to maintain their health and diversity. From a socio-economic perspective fire can, however, have negative or undesirable effects on public health and safety, property, and natural resources.

The challenge of managing fire in Canada is to find ways to effectively balance the positive ecological aspects of fire with the negative social and economic impacts.

The Government of Canada, through Natural Resources Canada’s Canadian Forest Service (CFS), makes an important contribution to fire management in two ways.

Wildfires can be ignited by a variety of occurrences. In addition to lightning, human-related activities start a large number of fires every year. Unattended or out-of-control campfires, a discarded burning cigarette, arson, or even equipment use can set off a blaze.

Forest fire or wildfire is often used to signify an uncontrolled intense fire that breaks out in the wooded areas due to many factors ranging from natural to man-made causes. Wildfires can be witnessed throughout the world and they usually occur in cycles. Mild forest fires are often considered beneficial, as growth of many plant species depend on it. Many plant species also depend on wildfires for reproduction, as the exposure to smoke induces germination in these plants. However, the large forest fires can have serious damaging effect on the surrounding environment.

Due to the extensive size and the immense speed, a forest fire can easily spread to a vast area. Besides, it can also change its direction and overcome occasional barriers like roads, rivers and fire breaks. Forest fires break out in areas like grassland, woodland, bush, scrubland and peat. Some important causes of it are Besides these, sparks from rockfalls can also ignite forest fires.

Once a forest fire has started, many factors contribute to its spread and intensity.

The preventive measures for controlling forest fires usually include such measures that can control outbreak as well as its severity and spread, maintain ecological balance and protect resources. Close monitoring of forest fires caused by natural factors would help in preventing the spread of such fires to a large extent. Besides, controlled burning can be encouraged, in which a fire is ignited under controlled conditions by the government authorities. Periodic burning of vegetation can also be helpful in maintaining diversity of species. This would also be effective in regulating the amount of surface fuel, which in turn would prevent the spread of a forest fire to a vast area. In addition to all these, we human beings could also play an important role by behaving more responsibly and not leaving behind any source of ignition in the forest or woods that we visit.

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