Our case describes the circumstances and law surrounding more than two dozen wildland fires in the Banning Pass area of Southern California, ultimately known as the Esperanza Fire. The first of the fires was set on May 16th, 2006, and the last on October 26th of the same year. Five U.S. Forest Service firefighters died when engine 57 was overrun in 35mph winds.
The Fires Set by Remote Devices
Raymond Lee Oyler was a would-be firefighter, he lit the fires. Oyler used a time-delayed incendiary device for his fires consisting of a Marlboro Light or Marlboro Red cigarette with wooden matches attached lengthwise with a rubber band. The “remote device” could be thrown or shot by a sling shot from a car and can take a few minutes before the cigarette burns down to light the matches, which varied from 5 to 31 matches. Most of Oyler’s fire’s were put out by fire fighters, but not all…