Local News in Brief : Handyman Admits Starting Forest Fires

A handyman pleaded guilty Monday to setting two fires that blackened more than 12,800 acres of the San Bernardino National Forest and caused more than $2 million in damages.

James Lonczak, 41, of Covina pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to two counts of arson in the public domain. Lonczak admitted starting the fire last Sept. 28 in the Texas Hills north of Rancho Cucamonga, about 40 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, that burned 12,800 acres, two homes and several automobiles. He also admitted starting a blaze nearby last Aug. 27 that burned about 35 acres.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Adam Schiff said Lonczak is also suspected of setting 22 other fires that burned about 250 acres last summer.

Lonczak told U.S. District Judge John Davies that he drove to the area and “threw out a cigarette with a match taped to it alongside the road, which ignited the brush.”

Lonczak, a handyman and carpenter for World Vision, a Monrovia-based philanthropic organization, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and $2.1 million in restitution when he is sentenced Feb. 27.