PASADENA : Transient Will Not Be Charged in Fire Death
A transient accused of building the campfire that set off the disastrous Altadena fire last month will not be charged with involuntary manslaughter of an elderly man whose death has been connected to smoke he inhaled from the blaze.
Andres Huang, a Chinese national who had been in the United States for two months when the fire started Oct. 27, also will not be charged with fraud for having three counterfeit $100 bills on him when arrested, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Huang told authorities he got the bills in Peru and had kept them as souvenirs.
Prosecutors had been considering the manslaughter charge since Nov. 9, when Alfred Wagner, 98, of Altadena, died.
“Huang was new to the area and did not speak English,” a statement from the district attorney’s office said. “There is no evidence he was aware of the unique fire season conditions in the San Gabriel Mountains.”
Huang still faces a misdemeanor charge of setting a fire without a permit.
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