Firefighters have a sixth sense for red flag days, those with triple-digit temperatures, single-digit humidity and howling Santa Ana winds.
Arsonists, too, may have this sense. "The majority of fires in this town are set," said Bill Cass, a senior investigator in the Los Angeles Fire Department's arson section.
The recent rash of intentionally set brush fires in Griffith Park shows how vulnerable Southern California can be. On two different days at the park, one of the nation's largest urban wilderness areas, someone started a second blaze while firefighters were still battling the first.
"Wild-land arson is pretty simple," said Karen Terrill, a spokeswoman for the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "California's wild lands are more than willing to burn."
Arsonists caused more than 300 vegetation fires in the city of Los Angeles in the past 12 months, out of a total 460 fires that burned anything from a few square feet of grass to more than 80 acres of brush. Less than a quarter of all arson fires investigated last year resulted in arrests. The rate drops for brush fires.
Orange County fire investigators believe an arsonist started the 1,100-acre Rancho Santa Margarita blaze that threatened million-dollar homes on a hot dry afternoon May 13. Fire crews responded swiftly in overwhelming numbers. That, combined with an early aggressive brush-clearing effort that formed a natural fire break, was credited for preventing damage or serious injury. Arson investigators later found several spots along a local road where they believe the fire was deliberately set.
Some arsonists start fires by chucking emergency flares out car windows and into brush alongside roads. Others drop a time-delayed matchbook device into a patch of wild grass, giving themselves a chance to flee before the fire starts.
The brush fire arsonist--nicknamed "pyro" or "torch" by some investigators--is typically young, white, male and a loner, according to experts. He is difficult to catch because his motives are not as obvious as those of, for instance, someone who collects insurance on a fire-gutted building. The crime is generally executed in a remote area, deep in the brush or along a hiking trail.
Without an eyewitness--which is a rare stroke of luck--the only thing authorities can do is collect physical evidence and wait for the arsonist to strike again.
