Transient Quizzed in Laguna Fire : Investigation: Man might be a suspect or have useful information, police say. He has been charged with setting three recent fires in Fullerton.

A transient charged with setting three fires in Fullerton is being questioned in connection with the October, 1993, arson fire that devastated much of Laguna Beach, law enforcement sources said Thursday.

Jose Martinez, 26, a Mexican national, was arrested Sept. 16 crouching alongside a set fire in the 1100 block of North Lemon Street by people who rushed to put out the blaze and held him for authorities, said Fullerton city spokeswoman Sylvia Palmer Mudrick.

“After his arrest, he indicated some knowledge of other fires in the county, and the case was then referred to the Orange County district attorney’s office and Orange County Fire (Department) for further investigation,” Mudrick said.

Orange County Fire Department Capt. Dan Young said authorities immediately began to suspect that Martinez might have been involved in other fires because of his activities on Sept. 16.

“Any time you have someone who has started more than one fire, you take a look at it,” Young said. “Right now, we are working together with the district attorney’s office to see if we can tie him to the Laguna Beach, the Green River fire or any other fires.”

Law enforcement sources said late Thursday that Martinez might be a suspect in the Laguna Beach arson--the county’s worst fire--or a source for information about who might have set the blaze, or might have information useful to investigators still trying to solve the arson.

Mudrick refused to comment further.

“It’s really not in our hands now and that’s all we can say at this time,” Mudrick said.

Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Maurice Evans also declined to comment.

Laguna Beach Councilman Robert F. Gentry said he has not given up hope that the arsonist who started the Oct. 27, 1993, blaze, which destroyed or damaged more than 400 homes and caused an estimated $400 million in damage, someday will be brought to justice.

“It would be one of the most thrilling moments of my life to be able to determine we have found a perpetrator of this horrible crime,” Gentry said.

One year later, beleaguered residents are still struggling to rebuild their lives and homes destroyed in the blaze.

In Fullerton, three small fires were set near an apartment building on North Lemon Street on Sept. 16. Fire officials put out the first blaze, and people working at North Orange County Community College District offices put out the second.

College district workers then noticed a third blaze starting up, and discovered Martinez as they rushed to extinguish it, Mudrick said.

“This time they found the man crouched beside the fire watching it,” Mudrick said. “They grabbed him and held him until the police and fire officials arrived.”

Martinez had a hunting knife on his person but did not resist arrest, Mudrick said.

He is being held at the Orange County Jail.