Authorities Arrest Suspected Arsonist (California)

News4 ^ | October 28, 2003

[hotpotato]

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST -- A man was arrested Tuesday after deputies caught him setting a fire in a steep, remote canyon filled with dry brush and large trees in the Angeles National Forest, according to sheriff detectives.

Hikers in a remote trail about a half-mile north of the Eaton Canyon Bridge in Altadena saw a man making a fire there and alerted authorities, sheriff's Detective Ed Nordskog said.

Los Angeles County Parks officials and deputies arrived about 10 a.m. as the man was standing next to a fire about four feet in diameter. He warned the deputies to stay away and not extinguish the blaze, Nordskog said.

The man, identified as Dikran Armouchian, 23, of Pasadena,

[Mo1]

A man was arrested Tuesday after deputies caught him setting a fire in a steep, remote canyon filled with dry brush and large trees in the Angeles National Forest, according to sheriff detectives.

He started another one .. Good Lord, what the heck is this guys problem??

[faithincowboys]

So the fact that are enemies have it on their list of things to do, that it coincides with Ramadan and the occupation of Iraq, and perhaps most importantly the systematic, widespread bulldozing of Palestinian homes and the continued construction of the fence-- should we ignore all that?

God Bless you, that's like believing in the early hours of 9-11 that 2 pilots wanted to play chicken with New York skyscrapers.

[hotpotato]

When developing a logical position don't close your eyes because it is ugly.

I don't know if you live in California but this *is* fire season. Unless Allah has invented the Santa Ana winds (which are right on their annual schedule) for the benefit of muslim extremists, it's most likely this fire simply follows the rules that previous fires in southern California experience at this time of year. It has been a disaster waiting to happen because it is old growth that is not maintained and development is encroaching into these areas. The one possitive out of this (if you can call it that) is that it won't happen again for a long time in these areas. And maybe, just maybe, they'll wisen up as they did in Laguna Beach which experienced a tragic fire ten years ago.... building codes changed and they have learned to keep the old growth cleared.

[Mo1]

Wasn't there a second, and a white van?

According to orginal reports, yes it was two men .. as for the van .. I think is was white or grey

[hotpotato]

Sometimes boys name Dikran find common cause with Islamic terrorists. Conversion is not unthinkable.

What is your source for that claim?

[hotpotato]

He's a firebug.

[bonesmccoy]

please tell me he's not a member of ALF/ELF/AQ.

[hotpotato]

I can't. There's not much information out there, yet.

What's ALF?

[faithincowboys]

Similarly, boys with names like Jose and Johnny also find common cause. It is not impossible to believe that a boy named Tim did in the mid 90's in OKC. In one of the last interviews before his execution Mcveigh had an unusual passion for the plight of the Iraqi people. Odd, I think.

[bonesmccoy]

yes, we've been trying to archieve different arson reports to figure out what's going on.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1008690/posts

Please post reports there also.

[Mo1]

What's ALF?

I think it's ELF

They are the idiots that burned down the hummer dealership a couple months back

[bonesmccoy]

ALF = Animal Liberation Front

[Mo1]

oops .. my mistake .. I should have read what you responded to

Sorry

[Porterville]

Think about 9-11... the architecture of the twin towers were uniquely suited for collapse because of the metal truss system between each floor. Do you think it is possible that a terrorist with a background knew this??? We also had a prelude to using planes as missiles in the late 90's... and they also tried to take one of the towers in '93

Now, does it seem like a group of highly intelligent terrorist couldn't figure out yearly wind patterns and neglected burn regions??? It was in their handbook…

Even the Japanese tried this sort of thing in WWII with bombs and balloons..(yes I watch the Discovery Channel)

[hotpotato]

Are you going to ignore that it's a fact that the cause of the worst fire (San Diego) was by a lost hunter and that the suspects who were witnessed tossing something out of a grey van that started the San Bernardino fire were both white? And will you also ignore that the Camp Pendleton fire was accidentally started by our military?

[hotpotato]

OH! (slaps side of head)

thanks

[hotpotato]

That didn't answer my question which is what is your source for your claim.

[MEG33]

Remember the Fire Department's honored arson investigator who set fires and killed someone in the process?He did it to show how clever he was.Firestarters are sick and not necessarily muslim terrorists.Accidents are just dumb actions by the unthinking.

[hotpotato]

I think most Californians would agree that for now, we'd like to recover and not be bombarded with theories that are unsubstantiated and primarily pushed to promote someone's anti-islam or anti-islamic extremist agenda. Many of us are feeling used. Especially when evidence, so far, points elsewhere.

[John H K]

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/3276537p-4302970c.html

Fire expertise often root of arson
By Mareva Brown -- Bee Staff Writer

As sure as the dry season brings fire to the West's hilltops and mountainsides, firefighters know that the natural blazes will attract another threat: arsonists.
And with their appearance, investigators acknowledge a sad truism -- often those most successful at setting blazes are somehow linked to a fire service agency.

It has happened in Colorado, where an 18-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service was charged Wednesday with intentionally setting what has become the nation's most ferocious blaze this year and the largest in Colorado history. Since June 8, more than 135,000 acres and 22 homes have burned, and more than 7,500 people have been evacuated.

It happened last week in Sacramento, when a former military firefighter allegedly set two fields ablaze and may be linked to nine more arsons in the area that same day.

"When we get a lot of fires, it inspires the arsonists to come out of the woodwork," said Karen Terrill, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "And when they have a knowledge of fire behavior, you can't help but wonder if they have some kind of experience in the fire service."

In California, wildland arsonists were responsible for an average of 392 blazes annually over the past five years, according to forestry department statistics. The fires burned an average of more than 21,000 acres per year.

CDF doesn't track how many fires are started by firefighters or others with a link to the fire service.

The damage arsonists cause is disproportionate to the number of blazes they ignite. In 1992, for example, arsonists lit 13 percent of the state's wildfires but caused 67 percent of the damage -- $114 million.

Some arsonists are motivated to burn buildings or other property for financial profit or revenge, but wildland arsonists usually are not driven by money.

For years, arson investigators have found that most arsonists fit a similar profile:

Typically, they are young, male loners who thrill to see the chaos and excitement that a blaze generates. In some cases, they may participate as rescuers. Firefighters call them "vanity arsonists."