11 Blazes : Investigators Seek Arsonist in Brush Fires

Los Angeles County Fire Department authorities say they believe an arsonist is responsible for 11 brush fires in the last year, including one that burned more than 100 acres in Agoura Hills on Monday.

Los Angeles County arson investigators suspect the same person set seven brush fires last year in west Los Angeles County and four more in the last four weeks. “We’ve got a firebug in the area who’s been running us ragged,” said Capt. Stan Cleveringa of the Westlake Village county fire station.

Cleveringa said the 11 fires were started in a similar way, typically with a fuse that burns about 20 seconds before igniting flammable material such as matchbooks or piles of dried grass.

Sheriff’s deputies have had a suspect under surveillance at times. “We think we know who it is, but we just haven’t caught him at it,” Cleveringa said.

Burned 10 Hours

The Agoura Hills fire started about 1:55 p.m. Monday and burned for 10 hours in remote, hilly terrain south of the Ventura Freeway, near Reyes Adobe and Agoura roads. It was extinguished about midnight. No structures were threatened.

During its peak, 160 firefighters battled the blaze. Four were stung by bees, one sprained an ankle and one suffered a hernia while using a chain saw, Cleveringa said. “That’s the most frustrating thing,” he said, “to lose firefighters when things are hot.”

Brush fires have been keeping county firefighters busy, especially in the Santa Clarita Valley, where 46 fires have started since Saturday, said Fire Capt. Donald Scott.

One of those fires burned more than 50 acres of grass in Val Verde on Monday and another scorched 25 acres in a quarter-mile-wide strip between the northbound and southbound lanes of the Golden State Freeway near the Templin Highway.

Relatively high temperatures, low humidity and high winds are creating “extreme fire weather,” said county Fire Capt. Edward Gil.