Arson Orange County

Two men are being held on suspicion of setting fire to an abandoned auto dealership to cover up evidence of a burglary, authorities said Tuesday. Steven M. Comstock, 18, and Doyle E. Fewell, 35, both believed to be transients, were arrested Saturday in connection with the fire at the former showroom of McLean Cadillac dealership in the 200 block of North Main Street, fire officials said.

A 12-year-old Texas boy was charged Friday with setting a brush fire that tore through Trafalgar Canyon in San Clemente in August, destroying six homes and causing more than $4 million in property damage. The boy was spending the summer with a family in San Clemente and "wanted to see what a big fire would look like," said Tori Richards, a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney's office.

A 49-year-old businessman, shot to death along with his mother before their rented hilltop mansion was set afire, had a history of high living, spent time in federal prison and was under investigation for alleged fraudulent use of credit cards, authorities said Thursday.

Investigators are trying to discover who set an arson fire that gutted a Pakistani restaurant, causing $150,000 damage. The blaze at 2 a.m. Thursday charred the front of Islamic Halal Tandoori on West Ball Road. Owner Akbar Ali, 54, said he feared that the fire might have been set as a hate crime because of the East Coast terrorist attacks Sept. 11.

In the shadows of Santa Ana's old City Hall, there is no clue that an ugly episode in Orange County history once happened here. Before the permit-only parking lot and car dealership appeared on 3rd Street between Main and Bush streets, this was home to men who wore dark queues down their backs, worked hard for cheap wages and sent their savings home to China. It was also grist for the local rumor mill and racial animosities.

A fire that authorities believe was intentionally set Wednesday destroyed part of an abandoned Laguna Hills bank building that has been the focus of a legal battle over the cleanup of an underground gasoline spill. "We are calling it arson," said Orange County Fire Department spokesman Capt. Dan Young. The blaze, which broke out at 3:15 a.m., burned the east wing of the boarded up Saddleback National Bank at the intersection of El Toro Road and Avenida de la Carlota.

Two Irvine teens were in custody late Tuesday in a series of quick-hit arsons that gutted a popular UC Irvine hangout and came dangerously close to campus housing, leaving some to wonder whether they were the intended targets of the gasoline-fueled flames. The 15- and 17-year-old boys were arrested on suspicion of setting six early-morning fires, according to Irvine Police Lt. Sam Allevato, who said the pair stole a canister of gasoline that was used to set the blazes.

The flames were still raging through dense brush in Carbon Canyon Regional Park late last month when investigators discovered the remains of an incendiary device near a horse trail where the blaze began. The fire, which lasted until the next morning, "was deliberately set by an individual who wanted to start a fire," said Orange County Fire Department Capt. Dan Young. "Why, we don't know."

It was the largest arson investigation Orange County has ever seen, at one time involving 14 full-time investigators from local, state and federal agencies. All told, 488 tips poured in, furiously at first, then slowing to a trickle. But six years after a firestorm raged through Laguna Beach and burned 441 homes, investigators said they doubt that the arsonist who set one of the most destructive brush fires in California history will be found.

Arson investigators questioned a 22-year-old Lake Forest man for several hours Wednesday in connection with the disastrous Laguna Beach fire and four other blazes after he was arrested on suspicion of impersonating a firefighter, authorities said. Authorities stopped short of calling the man, identified as Minh Quang Tran, a suspect, or even a possible suspect.

Fire investigators arrested a Buena Park man Saturday morning after he set fire to his single-bedroom apartment in an aborted suicide attempt, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. Tenant Marlon Alvarez reportedly told investigators that he set fire to his small "granny flat" about 10:30 a.m., according to Orange County Fire Capt. Stephen Miller.

Three teenagers suspected of starting a fire that destroyed four San Clemente condominiums have been tracked to other states, and Orange County arson investigators said Wednesday they are negotiating for their return. The three suspects have hired defense attorneys, who are in talks with the Orange County Fire Authority about having the juveniles voluntarily come back to California to face arson charges.

A two-alarm blaze that gutted the locker and pool equipment rooms at the Mission Viejo Aquatic Center early Wednesday was intentionally set, fire officials said. About 35 firefighters responded to the fire at Marguerite Parkway and Casa Del Sol, where the world-class Nadadores swim team practices. Nobody was injured in the fire, which caused about $230,000 in damage, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Kirk Summers.

Investigators confirmed Wednesday that arson caused a car fire that sparked a 30-acre blaze near Irvine Lake on Monday. Firefighters who responded to the brush fire found the car, a stolen Dodge minivan, torched and abandoned on a dirt road near a former landfill off Santiago Canyon Road. The hillside fire in the unincorporated area east of Orange was reported shortly after 5 a.m. Monday. Whipped by hot and gusty winds, the fire lasted most of the day. No one was injured.

Arson investigators are trying to determine why an abandoned building in Orange that had been the site of four previous fires in the last year was destroyed in a blaze Sunday afternoon. Firefighters who were only a block away from the building in the 200 block of South Main Street responded to a call about 4:30 p.m., but the structure was engulfed by the time they arrived, said Doug Mochizuki, battalion chief for the Orange Fire Department.

Worshipers at St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church often shudder during the early morning Masses delivered by Father Ignatius M. Kissel. The message of God's love is inspiring, but it's the biting chill in the air that gets to them the most these days. "It's cold," said Dorothy Flowers, a 20-year member of the parish, "particularly when it's 42 degrees outside. I don't know how long we can stand it."

Authorities said Tuesday that they have arrested a 20-year-old Anaheim man in connection with the slaying of Angela M. King, a traffic assistant for the Anaheim Police Department. Police said they received a tip Monday allegedly implicating Edgar Omar Osorio in the death of King, 34, as well as in the violent assault on King's 70-year-old neighbor, who remains in serious condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange. Police are withholding the older woman's name out of concern for her safety.

A 23-year-old Fullerton mechanic was convicted Tuesday of murdering his parents and brother and then torching their bodies in a parked car. Edward Charles III lowered his head but remained poised as he listened to the guilty verdicts that could land him on California's death row. "I'm glad that it's over, so to speak," said Charles' grandfather, Bernard Severino, who testified that his grandson called from jail and asked him to take blame for the killings, saying, "You've lived your life."

Orange County Fire Authority investigators are asking for the public's help in searching for a man who apparently used a container of lighter fluid to start a fire at a Lake Forest guitar shop nearly a year ago. The man used the lighter fluid to start a fire in the warehouse behind the Guitar Shop on El Toro Road on Nov. 24, 1999, authorities said. Fire Authority Capt. Paul Hunter said investigators believe the arsonist bought the lighter fluid at a Ralphs grocery store the day of the fire.

One of two cases of arson that scorched businesses in August has ended in an arrest, while investigators have made little progress in the other. Police arrested 32-year-old Anaheim resident Andrea Rae Yarbrough on Sept. 11 in connection with the Aug. 28 arson of Eastlake Graphics on Westerly Place near John Wayne Airport, a fire that caused about $500,000 in damage, officials said. Yarbrough was employed by Eastlake as a bookkeeper, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Mike McDermott said.