A California man is potentially facing life in prison after being found guilty of starting the Line Fire, a wildfire that burned 44,000 acres and forced thousands of people to evacuate from Southern California mountain towns and suburbs in September 2024.
Justin Halstenberg of Norco was found guilty of seven counts related to the Line Fire, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday. He was also found guilty of two counts related to an ensuing fire. The charges included “aggravated arson of forest land, property, and possession of flammable materials,” the announcement said. Halstenberg faces up to life in prison.
The charges were first announced in the days following the fire, when the DA’s office wrote in a news release that it believed that Halstenberg had “attempted multiple times within an hour to ignite a fire” in the hills next to a suburban neighborhood in Highland. His first attempt was extinguished by firefighters, according to the news release, and his second was stomped out by a civilian. His third arson attempt, which took place on Baseline Street in Highland, resulted in the Line Fire, the release said…