It has been confirmed by fire authorities that the fires in Santiago California near San Diego among otheres were deliberately started. They base this on the two" flash points"(first ignition points) of the fire. You see I calculated the wind direction and my scientific placement of the two flash points maximized the spread of the fire. I am an Arsonist and I am flattered by the reward of $280,00 that has been offered for information leading to my arrest. The question everyone should be asking themselves is not who set the fire but who paid me to set the fire? Who has gained from the fires.Is it someone who couldn't afford to pay his mortgage, a builder who can't pay several mortgages, or perhaps a business or group of businesses that are not profitable. Arson is one of the oldest ways to make a "come back". So let's start by asking the right questions, because I know what to do and I was paid very well to do it.
While we wait to hear more from official arson investigators ... check out what the victims are saying about me.
The wildfires that have consumed about half a million acres have terrified and frustrated Californians for nearly a week. But in few places are people, including fire crews, as angry as in Orange County's Silverado Canyon, where the spreading fire appears to have been caused not by nature or bad luck but by a carefully planned arson.Even as wildfires throughout much of Southern California began to bow to some degree of control on Friday and tens of thousands of residents were allowed back into their homes after days of mandatory evacuations, the blaze in this stunningly beautiful canyon continued to eat through the forest's bone-dry, 100-year-old growth at an alarming rate of speed.
About 750 homes -- everything from single-wide trailers to middle-class dwellings to multimillion-dollar mansions -- were at risk of joining the ranks of the more than 1,800 California homes destroyed by the previous week's raging wildfires. Shifting winds in the canyon were only making the fire's path more unpredictable, though a light sprinkling of rain Saturday lifted firefighters' spirits.A reward for information about who started the blaze, which has swallowed at least 14 homes and more than 20,000 wildlife-inhabited acres, grew to $280,000 as the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives aided local investigators."It's very frustrating," said Richard Jenkins, a firefighter from South Pasadena who had been battling the fire in Orange County. "Every year we get the Santa Ana winds and the cuckoos start coming out of the woodwork with their matches. "California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke directly to whoever the arsonist might be during a news conference Saturday: "If I were one of those people who started the fire, I would not sleep soundly right now, because we are right behind you. As a matter of fact, if I would be you, I would turn myself in."
Indeed, at least five people have been arrested on arson charges since wildfires broke out across Southern California last week, but none has been linked to any of the major blazes. Anger and fear over the possibility that more fires could break out because of arson fueled rumors that a terrorist group such as Al Qaeda might be responsible, a theory that has been soundly discounted by state and federal authorities. At a news conference Thursday, federal and local investigators said they recovered evidence from a hollow where the Silverado Canyon wildfire started. They said they were confident the flames had been deliberately started with a form of "liquid fuel."
Authorities confirmed that they had interviewed one person and searched one home but had no suspects. Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona said authorities had received 250 tips, none of which had panned out. By Saturday afternoon, the arson, dubbed the Santiago Fire, was still growing. It was being battled by 1,100 firefighters with 110 fire engines, three helicopters, four air tankers and 10 bulldozers. Flames had traveled 3 miles into the 5-mile canyon, and fire officials were considering lighting backfires in the hope that the two fires would consume one another."We want the fire on our terms," Orange County Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather explained.But as the team of fire spotters feared, the blaze still seemed to hold grave potential to crest a peak in the Cleveland National Forest and make its way into residential Silverado Canyon.
Area homeowners, evacuated since Monday, were being allowed brief trips back to their homes to gather essentials -- important documents, family photos, heirlooms -- with warnings that it could be the last time they saw their homes. 'Burn him at the stake' "It isn't looking good," said Linda Gottlieb, who designed and built a home with her husband four years ago. Gottlieb wore a particle mask over her mouth and nose to filter air that was thick with smoke and blowing ash. As she looked toward the peak where the fire seemed ready to crest, she seemed near tears. But then, as though to buoy her spirits, she explained how her house had been built to state and local standards, was constructed of a special kind of hardy plank wood, had interior sprinklers and had even been used by the local fire department in simulating how to guard houses against wildfires. Gottlieb, like others, was visibly furious that her home was in jeopardy because of an arsonist. "It's infuriating that someone would want to destroy the last pristine part of Orange County," she said. "Even if I didn't live here, I would be infuriated."She paused and then added deliberately, "I assure you, if the people of this canyon got a hold of the arsonist, we'd burn him at the stake for what he's done."
Ironically, fire officials said Silverado Canyon is not normally a fire risk because of the way the canyon is configured. It hasn't burned in some 60 years, Jenkins said. He said firefighters were told at their Friday morning briefing that the area was once a Native American sacred site, and that many residents believed that had long served as a protective force -- until now.----------
Contributions from Kirsten Scharnberg Chicago Tribune