Hunt Stepped Up For SoCal Wildfire Culprit

Reward Up To $500,000 For Arsonist Responsible For Blaze That Has Killed 4, Charred Nearly 40,000 Acres

(CBS/AP)  Calmer winds helped crews fighting a massive wildfire Saturday that killed four firefighters and critically injured a fifth, while investigators searched for the arsonist who set the blaze roaring through the canyons of Southern California.

"It looks like things are beginning to turn in our favor. We had a good overnight. It wasn't nearly as windy as it's been," said California Department of Forestry spokesman Bill Peters.

Forecasters predicted winds would ease and temperatures would drop slightly throughout the weekend, which could help as crews work in steep terrain to build firelines around the blaze.

Now in its third day, the fire that broke out in uninhabited brushland about 90 miles east of Los Angeles had blackened 39,900 acres, or more than 62 square miles, and was 25 percent contained, authorities said. Four firefighters died in the nation's worst such tragedy in five years. A fifth firefighter lay in grave condition with burns over 90 percent of his body.

A reward for information leading to the arsonist soared to $500,000 Friday, as $100,000 posted by Riverside County quickly multiplied with matching offers from the state, neighboring San Bernardino County, Rancho Mirage resident Tim Blixseth and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, which has a casino.

Investigators have not said how they know the nearly 40-square-mile blaze was arson, how it was set, or why. But they said those responsible could face murder charges.

Two young men were seen leaving the area where the fire broke out about 1 a.m. Thursday.

Sources close to investigation tell CBS News that the fire was probably started by something as something as simple as a lighter, which would have been used to ignite dry grasses along the road. They say the arsonist picked the spot because it is like a wind tunnel — a nearly constant wind powers Palm Springs generators just down the road.

There have been more than 25 arson fires in the Palm Springs area in the last few weeks. But solving the case won't be easy, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker. Almost three years ago to the day, another arson fire, the so-called "Old Fire," killed four people and burned thousands of houses. That arsonist has never been caught. Even if investigators do find a suspect, proving wildfire arson in incredibly difficult. They have to rule out any possibility of a natural cause or even something as simple as a spark from a car.

Santa Ana winds gusted to 45 mph but kept the fire in undeveloped land, away from homes in Riverside County. More than 2,700 firefighters worked to corral the flames and a DC-10 jet capable of dropping 12,000-gallon loads of retardant joined a fleet of firefighting helicopters and airtankers.

About 400 people remained evacuated Friday night from the tiny town of Poppet Flat.

James Pence, 63, said that shortly after the fire started in the town of Cabazon, he saw two unfamiliar young men leaving the area, which he said is close to a teenage hangout known as Raccoon Rock. "These kids didn't belong here. They were strange people," Pence said.

Tim Bowers, 49, said he was awakened by his dog, looked outside his trailer and saw flames on a hillside about 100 yards away. He said two unfamiliar young men walked away from the fire.

"I looked at them. They looked at me. Then they turned their heads and kept walking," Bowers said. The two were gone by the time he alerted an arriving firefighter, he said.

Sheriff's detectives interviewed the Cabazon trailer park neighbors.

The U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry were investigating the firefighters' deaths, gathering information on weather, topography and fuel. They interviewed firefighters who were nearby and retrieved information from dispatch tapes.

Michael Wakowski, a fire division chief in the San Bernardino National Forest, said it did not appear the crew did anything wrong.

"Sometimes things go bad, I hate to say," he said.

The firefighters were killed Thursday when the wind blew a wall of flames down on them in the hills near Palm Springs as they tried to protect a home. Killed were engine Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, 44; engine operator Jess McLean, 27; assistant engine operator Jason McKay, 27; and firefighter Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20.

The injured firefighter was identified as Pablo Cerda, 23, of Fountain Valley. About 70 percent of the damaged and burned skin was removed by surgeons Friday and Cerda remained in critical condition, said Jorge Valencia, a spokesman for Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.

It was the worst disaster involving firefighters battling a wildfire since 2001, when four firefighters were trapped by flames and killed in Washington state.

J.P. Crumrine told CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes that Loutzenhiser, a father of five, was the type of guy "you'd really want to be want to be friends with."

The school attended by three of Loutzenhiser's children canceled a talent show because of the tragedy. "As I've told my staff, they have been devastated," said Principal Emily Shaw. "Mark was entwined in every part of school life here."

"I think they should get the death penalty for this," a neighbor of McLean's in Beaumont, Marlene Lopez, said of whoever set the fire.

Investigators were looking into whether the fire was related to a 40-acre blaze Sunday in nearby Mias Canyon. "There's been a lot of fires in this area all summer long. You can connect the dots," Wakowski said.