Californian man faces arson-murder charges for deadly wildfire

Authorities have filed arson and murder charges against a 36-year-old Californian man, who allegedly set last week's wildfire that killed five firefighters and destroyed 34 homes in a mountain area near Palm Springs, about 150 km east of Los Angeles.

Raymond Lee Oyler, an auto mechanic, has been in custody since Tuesday, when authorities arrested him on suspicion of setting two smaller fires in June and announced he was a "person of interest" in the fatal arson fire, reported the Los Angeles Times Friday.

If convicted, the man could face the death penalty.

Police provided little information about what led them to the arrest, but prosecutors said they found "a consistency" to the string of fires set in the Riverside County area from early June through October.

A local resident, who lives in a neighborhood near where the blaze started, said when she saw Oyler's face on a news website, she recognized him as one of two men she saw at the scene shortly after the blaze began.

And authorities would not comment on whether they believe Oyler acted alone.

Court documents show that Oyler had previous records of breaking the law. He pleaded guilty to auto theft in nearby San Bernardino County in 1995, and pleaded guilty to possession of controlled drugs six years later.

Last week's fire, which burned some 40,000 acres of rugged terrain before being completely contained on Monday, was the deadliest for American firefighters since 1994, when 14 firefighters were killed in a Colorado fire.

Source: Xinhua