California fire blamed on arson and leads to homicide investigation

US Forest Service investigator tags a tree near fire origin  (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The largest fire in LA County history has now been 38% contained.  That is an improvement from 28% on Wednesday.  Over 147,418 acres, or 226 square miles have been burned. In ten days, 64 homes have been destroyed, three people were burned and two firefighters died.  There was some confusion on Thursday about the approach investigators were taking, but that has been clarified and now has a clear focus.

According to a recent  AP report:

Deputy incident commander Carlton Joseph said Wednesday that the fire was human-caused, but it's not known specifically how it was started or whether it was accidental or arson.

  In Thursday morning's update, the confusion was already evident:

"The fires were human caused", according to Deputy Incident Commander Carlton Joseph.  That doesn't mean arson, but could range from a dropped cigarette to a lawn mower.  The clues so far have ruled out natural causes such as lightning. Forest service officials however have stated that they are still looking at 'all' possible causes.

Forest Service commander Rita Wears said, "If there's no power lines that's something we can rule that out. We can rule out lightning if that's not a factor. We can rule out vehicles if that's not a factor. But we will not make a definitive determination until we rule that out."  "The only thing I can say it is possibly human activity."

Officials have since pinpointed the cause of the fire, declaring it the act of arson, but declined to reveal their evidence.  Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said, "We believe that this was caused by someone intending to set a fire." 

Since two firefighters died as a result of this blaze, a homicide investigation has been launched. 

This past week, we have seen incredible pictures (see the slide shows below), and even an amazing time lapse video of the billowing smoke over LA.  But the charred remains seen here, in addition to the burned and fatally wounded victims adds a different human element.  Los Angeles County Fire Chief Mike Bryant was encouraged by the progress of the investigation and fire fighting efforts, but  "it doesn't mend my broken heart."

 Los Angeles County Sherrif's Department homicide bureau will work with an arson and explosives division and several other agencies to track down specifics and suspects.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger toured the destruction Thursday,  and got a chance to hear the frustration from the victims.  Helicopters have dropped 1.7 million gallons of water, and airplanes have dropped 670,000 gallons of fire retardant on the fire.

Firefighters believe it will take until September 15th to get the entire fire under control.  That is up to another two weeks of burning to go.

Recent Fire Slide Shows: