A former college professor was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly starting four wildfires in Northern California earl...
A former college professor was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly starting four wildfires in Northern California earlier this year, near the deadly Dixie Fire.
Gary Stephen Maynard, 47, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of arson to federal property, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California said in a statement.
The blazes threatened to trap firefighters as they battled the massive Dixie blaze - the second-largest wildfire in California history - nearby, prosecutors said.
Maynard's alleged arson spree included blazes he started in July and August behind crews fighting the Dixie fire, scorching more than 1,500 square miles and destroying more than 1,000 structures, court documents showed.
Federal prosecutors say Maynard, a resident of San Jose, set four blazes: the Cascade and Everitt fires, on July 20 and 21, and the Ranch and Conard fires on August 7.
U.S. Forest Service agents started investigating Maynard on July 20 after the Cascade Fire was reported on the western slopes of Mount Shasta.
Flames leap from trees on August 3 as the Dixie Fire, the second-biggest wildfire in California history, rages. A former college professor was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges he started four other wildfires nearby, putting firefighters battling the blaze in danger
'It appeared that Maynard was in the midst of an arson-setting spree,' court documents filed Thursday say
An investigator found Maynard underneath his black Kia Soul that had its front wheels stuck in a ditch and its undercarriage centered on a boulder, court papers said.
A second fire erupted the next day on Mount Shasta, and investigators later found tire tracks similar to those made by the Kia.
They eventually placed a tracking device under Maynard's car after he was stopped briefly by police on August 3.
Tracking his movements for hundreds of miles, investigators said Maynard traveled to the area where the Ranch and Conard Fires erupted in the Lassen National Forest.
Maynard's alleged arson spree included blazes he started in July and August behind crews fighting the Dixie Fire (pictured)
US Forest Service agents started investigating Maynard after the Cascade Fire was reported on the western slopes of Mount Shasta on July 20
California firefighters set a hose line as they try to contain a blaze in August, after Maynard had allegedly set the four fires
'It appeared that Maynard was in the midst of an arson-setting spree,' court papers said.
Maynard has denied setting the fires, court papers say. It wasn´t immediately known whether he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Maynard appears to have taught briefly at Santa Clara University and Sonoma State University, where a Gary Maynard was listed as a lecturer in criminal justice studies specializing in criminal justice, cults and deviant behavior. He is no longer with either school.
It took firefighters more than four months to finally put out the Dixie Fire, which blazed on from July 13 to October 25. Maynard's alleged actions put them in danger, federal prosecutors say
As firefighters battled the Dixie blaze, Maynard allegedly started four more fires: the Cascade and Everitt fires on July 20 and 21, respectively, and the Ranch and Conard Fires on August 7
Maynard is in custody pending trial, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Anderson wrote in an August detention memo that Maynard had 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,' Anderson said.
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