FBI agents shoot dead 'arsonist' as police reveal California fires were started deliberately

The Daily Mail
Oct. 25, 2007

A suspected arsonist was shot dead by police as FBI agents revealed several of the fires that have forced one million people from their homes in southern California had been started deliberately.

Police said officers killed a man during a chase as he tried to escape when challenged in the city of San Bernardino.

A motorcyclist who police say set a small fire in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains was arrested but investigators said they did not know whether he was connected to any of the larger fires.

FBI agents confirmed that a huge fire in the town of Santiago in Orange County that destroyed 10 homes was started on purpose in two different places.

A Ł35,000 reward was offered for information to trace the arsonists today as a break in the weather finally allowed firefighters to make progress after virtually conceding defeat to the series of wildfires that have been fanned by fierce winds.

President Bush arrived in California after declaring the country's worst nightmare since Hurricane Katrina a "major disaster".

Insurance companies estimated that property worth more than Ł600 million has been destroyed in four days of fires.

More than 1,500 homes and more than 700 square miles of land have been scorched across five counties, from Ventura in the north all the way down to Mexico. The office of emergency services said 28,000 homes were still threatened.

Many residents along the coastline from Malibu to San Diego, through the inland canyons to the mountain playgrounds of Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs, returned home last night to find just burning rubble.

Thousands more waited anxiously in makeshift evacuation camps, not knowing if they had lost everything they own.

The improving weather has allowed for a greater aerial assault on the flames with helicopters and air tankers dropping tons of water.

Just one death has been directly attributed to the fires, a man who refused to leave his home, although six others died during the evacuations and about 50 people have been injured, including 20 firefighters.