fire setting

"We accept that some fires can be accidental, but deliberate fire setting is a crime and that's the message we'd like to get out."

The county on Thursday filed 27 charges of “willful and malicious fire setting” against the three juveniles — all 16-year-olds whom police did not identify because of their ages — Gonzalez said.

Senate Bill 1242 specifies that if a person is convicted of reckless fire setting on a retailer’s property to commit organized theft it will result in a longer sentence.

“The jury did not convict Wilke of the two federal counts related to the forest fire: setting timber afire and using fire in furtherance of a felony.”

Both discoveries, the report said, are "indicative of a fire setting pattern that could have caused this fire."