$5,000 Reward Offered to Catch Arson Culprit

In an attempt to nab the person who set the Oct. 25 fire in the hills north of Poli Street, the City Council agreed Monday night to pitch in on a $5,000 reward.

The council also approved a letter drafted by Fire Chief Dennis Downs to the California Department of Forestry that spells out how to divide the $365,000 it cost to fight the nighttime blaze.

The fire broke out about 7 p.m. in brush near Grant Park, and strong winds drove the flames to the edge of Ventura City Hall, which faces Poli Street. By the time some 600 firefighters and 115 engines contained the blaze at 6 p.m. the next day, 450 acres had burned.

Officials quickly concluded that the cause of the fire was arson. Investigative efforts and appeals to the public for information, however, have yet to yield a suspect.

To encourage cooperation, the Grant Land Co., which owns the ranch east of Grant Park--and most of the scorched hillside behind City Hall--offered the city $2,500 to be used as a reward for the arrest and conviction of the arsonist, provided the city would match the amount. Monday night’s decision brings the reward to $5,000.

The city is still working out how to pay for fighting the fire, which did not destroy any homes.

In the letter of agreement presented by Downs and approved by the council, the city will cover the firefighting costs for providing structural protection. That would mean paying for all the strike teams, personnel and engines that raced to Ventura from fighting the Malibu fire, which occurred earlier that same week.

The California Department of Forestry would in turn cover other costs, such as for helicopters, hand crews and dozers that dug a line around the fire to contain the blaze.

Now that President Bill Clinton has declared Ventura a disaster area as a result of the fire, both the city and the state forestry agency will be eligible to recover up to 75% of their costs from federal emergency funds.

But, with final firefighting costs still unavailable, the agreement only divvied up responsibility for fire costs.

“Until we start getting bills, there is no way of knowing,” Downs said in an interview. “It takes several months--it’s not like a credit card bill.”

Anyone with information related to the arson fire should call Ventura Police Detective Ralph Martinez at 339-4472.