Arson Investigation Looks For Pickup Truck

(AP)  Authorities investigating a destructive Southern California wildfire set by an arsonist asked for the public's help Friday in finding a pickup truck seen in the area where the fire started.

Officials released a picture of a white Ford F-150 and said they wanted to talk to the driver, but stopped short of calling the person a suspect.

The vehicle was spotted around the time the fire broke out in an Orange County canyon, according to county fire Chief Chip Prather.

Authorities began looking for the truck, believed to have been made between 1998 and 2004, based on information received from a tip line. Additional details were not released.

The fire has burned 27,600 acres and destroyed 14 homes in the foothills east of Irvine.

Authorities believe the blaze was deliberately set because they found two ignition points within a short distance - a common sign of arson.

About 55 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, as well as the FBI, have joined the investigation. Officials have received some 700 tips and offered at least $250,000 in rewards in the case.

At least five people have been arrested and booked for investigation of arson since wildfires broke out across Southern California this week, though none has been linked to any of the major blazes.

In one case, a man suspected of starting a fire on a San Fernando Valley hillside pleaded not guilty Friday to one count of arson.

Catalino Pineda, a Guatemala native, was being held on $75,000 bail and scheduled to return to court Nov. 7.

Police said witnesses saw Pineda, 41, start a fire Wednesday in the West Hills area of Los Angeles and then walk away. Witnesses contacted authorities and followed him to a nearby restaurant where police arrested him.

Pineda is currently on probation for making excessive false emergency reports to law enforcement, police said.

If convicted of the arson count, he faces up to six years in prison.

[usaprophet]

I want to tell you about another major fire. Our Constitution is on fire. And it''s currently being burned in Congress. See H.R. 1955, a.k.a., Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. I couldn''t believe it. Apparently, activists with Web sites are really begining to anger the elite insofar as they are publically holding them accountable for their evil. Here''s a part of the bill, which passed the house on Oct 23, in spite of Congressman, Ron Paul''s opposition thereto. The right to free speech on the Internet is gone, my friends. Look it up for yourself, and weep for your country that our rights have eroded this far. Here''s a short excerpt from the bill''s DEFINITIONS statement: "The development and implementation of methods and processes that can be utilized to prevent violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States is critical to combating domestic terrorism." Here''s another excerpt from the bill''s FINDINGS statement: "The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens." And guess who get''s to decide what is "terrorist-related propaganda?" You got it! The Department of Homeland Insecurity, an agency that''s answerable ONLY to The President. If Ron Paul isn''t elected, our country is doomed!

[Krazcarl]

SNIDEGRASS...were tired of your idiocy you write like the village idiot and think your a wanna be poet ot think that will get you attention it don''t your a raving lunatic that no one takes seriously and most think you have mental problems your rambling is getting old and totally pointless except to anger those that want to talk the issue at hand beat it no one thinks your smart or cool your just getting old.

[gunnerone2]

What??

[Krazcarl]

Please help these men find this piece of trash and cold blooded murderer of humans and animals this wasn''t kids getting frisky with matches it was an adult bent on destruction and will most likely do it again.

[likeitis5050]

If convicted of the arson count, he faces up to six years in prison.


That''s for being illegal, not for starting a fire, destroying hundreds of homes, and killing, at last count, 6 people. As an American he would be looking at life in prison. Who says we don''t accommodate our illegals?

[likeitis5050]

It''s back in Mexico by now.

[tucano2]

It is not likely the Illegal Aliens registered the vehicle, or secured either a license plate or insurance for it. The driver is not likely to have a driver''s license. He''s probably at some beach in central america laughing his head off at the idiot open-borders Senators that let him cross and recross many times,

[keithle1]

"We''re looking for a white pickup truck. Has anyone seen it?"