Former criminal justice college professor accused of setting fires near Dixie Fire

[OneCrazyDiamond]

Source: CBS News

A man who taught criminal justice at Sonoma State University is accused of setting fires around the massive Dixie Fire and in Shasta County, California. CBS Sacramento reports Gary Maynard, 47, was arrested on Saturday and is charged with setting fire to public land.

He is accused of setting the Ranch Fire in Lassen County, as well.

The Dixie Fire has grown roughly 5000 acres since Monday night, and has burned more than 490,000 acres. It is 27 percent contained.

A federal criminal complaint shows that U.S. Forest Agents started investigating Maynard on July 20, the same day as the Cascade Fire. Investigators eventually placed a tracking device on his car after a witness at the fire claims they saw Maynard come from the area where the fire sparked.

"Witness 1 believed the man was mentally unstable, describing the man as, 'mumbling a lot and having bipolar-like behavior,'" the court documents detailed.

During the investigation into the Cascade Fire, authorities found evidence of additional fires.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dixie-fire-gary-manard-arson-accusation-california/

[Demnation]

1. Fires started, check. Career up in flames, check.

[KS Toronado]

2. You'd think a man who taught criminal justice would know arson is illegal

must be a reQublicOn because they believe laws only apply to Liberals.

[Hekate]

5. Arsonists are not what you would call normal -- has nothing to do with party or laws...

Investigators are no doubt busily following up on other fires to see just how much of a serial fire-bug he is.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Mental illness pays no attention to political beliefs. NT

[Skittles]

13. it sounds like a mental health issue

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Like any profession, they have to sort out those attracted to it so they can commit crimes around it

It really is weird how that works so many times.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. He's hardly the first.

There was a show on NOVA years ago about this guy.

Hunt for the Serial Arsonist

Original broadcast:
November 14, 1995

Program Overview

Experts estimate that one out of every three fires in the United States is set deliberately. Firefighters must report the cause and origin of each fire they fight. If the cause of a fire cannot be determined immediately, a fire investigator may be assigned to the case. Investigators sift through the remains of the fire for clues about the cause of the fire. If there is evidence of arson, the investigators also try to collect information that might help police identify and locate the arsonist. In this episode of NOVA, a series of similar arson fires in California raises concern that a serial arsonist might be at work. The program follows the investigative team that solved this extremely difficult case.

John Leonard Orr

Born: April 26, 1949 (age 72)
Occupation: Fire captain, arson investigator
Criminal status
Federal: Transferred to CA custody in 2002
State: Incarcerated at California State Prison, Centinela
Conviction(s)
Federal: July 31, 1992
State: June 25, 1998
Criminal charge
Federal: Arson
State: First-degree murder, arson
Penalty
Federal: 30 years
State: Life plus 21 years (nine years vacated on March 15, 2000)
Date apprehended: December 4, 1991
Imprisoned at: California State Prison, Centinela

John Leonard Orr (born April 26, 1949) is an American former firefighter, novelist, and convicted arsonist and murderer. Orr was the fire captain and arson investigator for the Glendale Fire Department in Southern California. He was convicted of serial arson and four counts of murder. In the 1980s and 1990s, Los Angeles was plagued by a series of fires that cost millions of dollars in damages and claimed four lives. Orr was found to be the cause of most of those fires. During his arson spree, Orr was nicknamed "The Pillow Pyro" by arson investigators due to the location of the fires inside shops.

His modus operandi was to set fires using an incendiary timing device, usually comprising a lit cigarette with three matches wrapped in ruled yellow writing paper and secured by a rubber band, in stores while they were open and populated. He would also set small fires often in the grassy hills, in order to draw firefighters, leaving fires set in more congested areas unattended.

{snip}

[zuul]

4. Jesus! Was he trying to kill firefighters?

In a separate court document, investigators detail the severity of the alleged crimes:

"He entered the evacuation zone and began setting fires behind the first responders fighting the Dixie fire. In addition to the danger of enlarging the Dixie fire and threatening more lives and property, this increased the danger to the first responders, " the document alleges. "Maynard's fires were placed in the perfect position to increase the risk of firefighters being trapped between fires. But for the dedication and efforts of U.S. Forest Service investigators working around the clock to track Maynard, those fires would not have been discovered in their infancy."

[Major Nikon]

11. Appears to have gone full cray-cray

[OnlinePoker]

8. I posted this graphic of the Dixie Fire on Monday

They almost had the northern boundary contained and then it exploded on the 4th. I wonder if this is the reason.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1127&pid=147154

[IronLionZion]

10. That's an impressive graphic

If this dude was the reason, they're likely to throw the book at him.

[BigmanPigman]

14. I would like to see the residents of Greenville, whose town

had been completely destroyed by the fires, to get their hands on him for about an hour or two. I know that if he burned down my town I would want to punch him so hard he wouldn't be able to see straight. I wouldn't be concerned with his mental state....and I am a 5'1" pacifist.

[LymphocyteLover]

9. Jesus, what a tragedy, from one man

[NullTuples]

12. Everything I've read indicates he's suffering from mental illness.

I don't know what we as a society expect when mental illness is not taken as seriously as physiological illness and physiological illness is only taken seriously when there's profit to be made.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

16. +1

[Ingersollman]

15. Fucking

humans.