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California fire arson8/29/2023 ![]() ![]() The EBT account showed Maynard made purchases at a Safeway in Fortuna, along California's coast, on July 18, and then, a week later, at a Safeway store in Susanville - some 260 miles inland across the state, just east of the Lassen National Forest where the Dixie Fire erupted in mid-July, the affidavit said. Tracing his use of the card at grocery stores, the Forest Service was able to place Maynard close to the time and place where a number of fires were set, according to Bolen's affidavit. The USDA, Bolen says, confirmed that Maynard had an Electronic Benefits Transfer account. Forest Service Special Agent Tyler Bolen said he used a variety of means to learn more about the arson suspect, from internet searches that turned up his ties to colleges to inquiries with the U.S. In an affidavit requesting an arrest warrant for Maynard, U.S. Forest Service agents also measured and recorded data about the tire tread pattern left by Maynard's car - evidence that they say ties him to a string of arson wildfires. The investigator kept his distance from Maynard, citing the man's "uncooperative and agitated behavior." But he took a picture of his car, and the license plate number led to Maynard. After the man returned, the witness recalled, smoke from the Cascade Fire became visible. The witness said the man had walked off in the direction of where the fire eventually ignited, returning around 10 minutes later. He also noticed that on a dirt road 150 to 200 yards from the fire, a man was struggling to free his car, a black Kia Soul, after the vehicle's rear had failed to clear a partially buried boulder.Ī witness told investigators that the man, later identified as Maynard, had arrived several hours before the fire started, court records show. A mountain biker in those remote woods had noticed signs of a fire, called 911 and then worked to limit the fire's spread.Ī Forest Service fire investigator determined the Cascade Fire was likely the result of arson. On July 20, Maynard was spotted near the scene of the Cascade Fire, on the western slopes of Mount Shasta. Maynard also has connections to other schools, from Stony Brook University in New York (where he received his doctorate) to Santa Clara University, where he also taught. His teaching and research, the school said, focuses on topics that include the "sociology of health, deviance and crime" and environmental sociology. If it weren't for the surveillance federal agents were conducting on Maynard, the fires would have been much worse and the risk to firefighters would have been greater, the document said. Maynard's alleged offenses "show that he is particularly dangerous, even among arsonists," the federal prosecutors said. It added, "Maynard's fires were placed in the perfect position to increase the risk of firefighters being trapped between fires." attorney's office in Sacramento said in court papers. "He entered the evacuation zone and began setting fires behind the first responders fighting the Dixie fire," the U.S. ![]() It's one of three fires that officials said Maynard set in recent days - all of them close to the Dixie Fire's northeastern footprint. That blaze broke out on Saturday morning in a remote area where, according to court records, Maynard had just camped for the night. While court documents allege that Maynard is connected to more than a half-dozen dangerous fires in Northern California, he is currently charged with starting only the Ranch Fire. attorney's office in Sacramento told NPR. Maynard's next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. He added: "Based on that finding, the defendant will be detained as a risk of non-appearance and a danger to the community." ![]() Not just once, but over and over again," the government said in a court memorandum arguing for Maynard to be denied bail.Ī judge agreed to that request during a brief hearing Wednesday, saying there are no "conditions or combination of conditions that would provide the necessary level of safety to this community should the defendant be released." They allege former college professor Gary Maynard is the culprit, citing their tracking of his movements and other evidence. He is charged with starting only the Ranch Fire.įirefighters battling the Dixie Fire have also been facing a second enemy: a serial arsonist who went on a spree of setting fires in July and August - and who sought to trap fire crews with his fires, according to agents from the U.S. Investigators say they've linked the Ranch Fire, pictured here shortly after its discovery, and other blazes to Gary Maynard, a former college professor. ![]()
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