Prosecutors examine blaze case against 12-year-old boy

Prosecutors in California are to review evidence before deciding whether to charge a 12-year-old boy whose play with matches started a blaze that ripped through nearly 60 square miles and destroyed 21 homes.

“It was a child-set fire, but it is not clear what his intentions were at this time,” said Bill McSweeney, chief of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s homeland security department.

The boy admitted starting the fire in north Los Angeles County after arson investigators said the blaze began on October 21 outside his Agua Dulce home. The home was not damaged, said Los Angeles County fire Captain Michael Brown.

The prosecutor’s office was “not sure whether they’ll bring any charges, given that it was an accidental fire,” Brown said.

Prosecutors will evaluate evidence in the case as investigators continue to question what started more than 15 major wildfires last week.

Downed power lines, arson and building workers have been blamed for five other fires that destroyed 2,100 homes and blackened 809 square miles from Los Angeles County to the Mexican border in the past 10 days.

State insurance commissioner Steve Poizner estimated that damage from the fires, most of which were contained by early today, would exceed £750 million.

Investigators blamed an arsonist for setting a fire in Orange County that blackened nearly 45 square miles and destroyed 16 homes.

Authorities had sought the driver of a pick-up truck spotted in a canyon area around the time the fire broke out. The truck was located and its owners interviewed, but they were not considered arson suspects, said Kris Concepcion, Orange County Fire Authority battalion chief.

Workers using grinding tools on a building site on October 21 were blamed for a fire near the Magic Mountain theme park in the Santa Clarita Valley that scorched more than four square miles over the next few days.

Investigators determined that power lines toppled by the powerful Santa Ana winds were behind a 14-square-mile fire in San Diego and a seven-square-mile blaze in Malibu.

Meanwhile California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger directed state chiefs to prepare for a new round of possible fires in Southern California as forecasters predicted moderate Santa Ana winds later in the week.

“We are not out of the danger zone yet,” Schwarzenegger said at a meeting with the state National Guard, Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and Office of Emergency Services.

State fire officials were deploying firefighting planes and helicopters in fire-prone areas, according to the governor’s office. The National Guard also planned to deploy 1,500 guardsmen and six helicopters to respond to possible flare-ups.

The governor’s announcement came amid criticism of state officials after Marine, Navy and National Guard helicopters were grounded because personnel required to be on board were not immediately available.