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Guard Arrested in Arson Fires at Building Site

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From a Times Staff Writer

A 19-year-old security guard was in the Perris jail Friday on suspicion of setting two fires that destroyed 14 houses under construction and damaged three occupied homes in this Riverside County community.

A fire official said David Lynn Krivac of nearby Moreno Valley was taken into custody Thursday evening after the second blaze in as many nights erupted in the project of two-story homes where Krivac was on duty.

Battalion Chief Jim Wright of the California Department of Forestry-Riverside County Fire Department said Krivac aroused the interest of arson investigators “because of his presence at the scene.”

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Wright said Krivac also was believed to be linked with more than two dozen similar blazes in the area during the last month. Wright did not elaborate.

Flames that broke out shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday destroyed 10 of the houses in the Morningside project being constructed by R&H; Homes Inc. of Redlands. That fire caused minor to moderate damage to three occupied homes in an adjoining tract, Wright said.

Four more of the houses under construction were destroyed in the Thursday fire, which broke out shortly before 8 p.m.

Total damage was estimated to be $774,000.

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