SoCal Arson Reward Raised To $250,000

Reward Raised In Hopes Of Locating Arsonists; At Least 2 Arrested, Another Shot

(CBS/AP)  Of the more than one dozen fires that burned through southern California, two are now believed the work of arsonists, reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes.

Authorities are now investigating at the Rosa fire in Riverside County and the much larger Santiago Canyon fire in Orange County and are now offering a reward of $250,000 to find the arsonists.

At least two men have been arrested, and authorities questioned a man at the Santiago site Thursday, but would not tell CBS News why.

Orange County fire department battalion chief Kris Concepcion told Hughes that there have been over 250 hits to the arson tip line.

"The task force is committed to chasing each one of those 250 leads to make sure that we catch whoever's responsible for this," said Conception.

CBS News first learned Wednesday that the massive Santiago Canyon Fire was being deemed arson by a task force of federal, state and local agencies. Officials said the fire had been set in two separate "points of origin."

The fire was set in a particularly strategic spot, said Orange County Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather.

"The persons or persons who did this were either exceptionally lucky or they have some knowledge about where you might want to do the most damage when you set a fire," he said.

"I wonder, frankly, if we didn't have this arson caused fire here, how many of our resources we might have had available to respond to other parts of the state."

The Santiago Fire has burned about 23,000 acres east of Irvine, officials said, and it is around 50 percent contained. Nine homes have been destroyed, with another eight homes and 12 outbuildings damaged. Four firefighters have suffered minor injuries fighting the blaze. As many as 3,000 people were evacuated.

In San Bernardino County, a man suspected of starting a small fire was arrested and another man was shot to death by police after he fled officers who approached to see if he might be trying to set a fire.

In Los Angeles, police arrested a man after witnesses say they saw him lighting a fire on a hillside.

Authorities say 41-year-old Catalino Pineda was seen starting a fire in the San Fernando Valley Wednesday and then walking away.

Witnesses alerted authorities and followed the man to a nearby restaurant where police arrested him.

Pineda was booked for investigation of arson. Authorities say the Guatemala native is currently on probation for making excessive false emergency reports to law enforcement.

Police and fire officials could not immediately say whether he might be connected to any of the wildfires in Southern California.

[petharia-2009]

I blame this all on our government officials. I''m completly confident that if the fire was at the white house, washington fire department would have access to a plane capable of flying in "santa ana" wind conditions. I challenge govenor arnold to allow californians the respect of utilizing our tax dollars for such a purpose. Seeing that "santa ana" winds are a "normal" yearly event in california and every year... someone starts a fire during them. The technology''s out there so lets make some noise california! Margie Lewis - Anaheim, ca.

[petharia-2009]

I blame this all on our government officials. I''m completly confident that if the fire was at the white house, washington fire department would have access to a plane capable of flying in "santa ana" wind conditions. I challenge govenor arnold to allow californians the respect of utilizing our tax dollars for such a purpose. Seeing that "santa ana" winds are a "normal" yearly event in california and every year... someone starts a fire during them. The technology''s out there so lets make some noise california! Margie Lewis - Anaheim, ca.

[petharia-2009]

I blame this all on our government officials. I''m completly confident that if the fire was at the white house, washington fire department would have access to a plane capable of flying in "santa ana" wind conditions. I challenge govenor arnold to allow californians the respect of utilizing our tax dollars for such a purpose. Seeing that "santa ana" winds are a "normal" yearly event in california and every year... someone starts a fire during them. Lets make some noise california! Margie Lewis - Anaheim, ca.

[petharia-2009]

I blame this all on our government officials. I''m completly confident that if the fire was at the white house, washington fire department would have access to a plane capable of flying in "santa ana" wind conditions. I challenge govenor arnold to allow californians the respect of utilizing our tax dollars for such a purpose. Seeing that "santa ana" winds are a "normal" yearly event in callifornia and every year... someone starts a fire during them. Lets make some noise california! Margie Lewis - Anaheim, ca.

[petharia-2009]

I blame this all on our government officials. I''m completly confident that if the fire was at the white house, washington fire department would have access to a plane capable of flying in "santa ana" wind conditions. I challenge govenor arnold to allow californians the respect of utilizing our tax dollars for such a purpose. Seeing that "santa ana" winds are a "normal" yearly event in callifornia and have been since the beginning of time. Margie Lewis - Anaheim, ca.

[tucano2]

To catch Arsonists and other Terrorists the people putting up the reward monies will need to extensively advertise in Mexico.

[gopack443]

Are fire lanes feasible in California? Seems kinda pointless just letting the state burn up every few years at the expense of the rest of the county. If California don''t want to take actions to try and prevent the next big wild fire the Fed''s may have to.