THE SOUTHLAND FIRESTORM : Catching Arsonists a Daunting Challenge : Crime: Authorities believe all four county fires were intentionally set. Prosecuting such culprits often proves impossible.

Arson caused all four wildfires that burned nearly 60,000 acres of brush in Ventura County in recent days, authorities said Thursday.

Now, as firefighters continue to battle three of the blazes, investigators face an equally sticky challenge: locating and prosecuting the culprits.

County fire officials said Thursday that arson is the only reasonable explanation for the fires that erupted in Thousand Oaks, Santa Paula, Simi Valley and Ojai. Deputy Fire Chief Robert E. Holaway said arson investigators had ruled out the possibility that the fires were started by downed power lines.

In the Thousand Oaks blaze, investigators have a description of a man seen in the area only minutes before it broke out Tuesday afternoon at Los Robles Golf Course. But as with any arson suspect, it may be difficult catching him.

The Crime Stoppers program announced a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the conviction of anyone in the arson fires. Tipsters, who can remain anonymous, are asked to call 494-8255.

Hundreds of arsons occur in the county each year, but only about 15 suspects are prosecuted each year, Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard E. Simon said. But when firebugs are caught, they face tough penalties, he said.

“The judges and the prosecutors in this county take arson real seriously,” said Simon, who tries most adult arson cases in the county. “And when there is an arson conviction, the sentences are usually stiff.”

As an example, Simon cited the case of Ronald Kenneth Sneed, an Oxnard man convicted of setting eight fires in downtown Ventura that caused nearly a quarter-million dollars in damage. A first-time offender, Sneed received 13 years in state prison.

But catching a suspect in brush fires is different from catching one who burns commercial structures.

Ventura Police Detective Jeanne Boger said investigators often need luck and a braggadocio for a suspect in either case, but especially in brush fires, where witnesses are rarer.

She recalled a case about a year ago, however, in which people witnessed a man setting brush ablaze in the hills off Ventura Avenue east of Cedar Street.

“We got a good description of someone bending down in the brush, and fleeing, and then the fire started right after that,” Boger said. “But we didn’t find him.”

In all arsons, whether in wild country or on a city street, investigators need the public’s assistance, Boger said.

“Arson is a difficult crime to prove because it’s a circumstantial case,” she explained. “You have to prove other things didn’t happen first. You have to prove that it wasn’t an accidental fire, that it definitely was an incendiary fire.

“You have to rule out all other causes.”

Investigators weren’t saying Thursday what evidence they have collected.

“The fire investigators will not give out any other information when they say it’s arson,” said Engineer Alan Campbell, Ventura County fire spokesman.

Prosecutor Simon, who was contacted Wednesday by investigators of the Thousand Oaks fire, declined to discuss any evidence. “Let’s just say it’s been determined to be arson, and leave it at that,” he said.

Arson investigators in other jurisdictions empathized with the frustration of trying to locate a suspect.

And even if they find a suspect, said Oxnard Fire Inspector Kevin Schroepfer, there is no guarantee that they will be able to get a conviction.