By DOUGLAS W. MOTLEY
Senior Writer
A Norco resident arrested for igniting the Line Fire on Thursday, Sept. 5 was due in court on Friday, Sept. 13. Justin Wayne Halstenberg, 34, was charged with nine felony crimes on Thursday, Sept. 12. If convicted on all nine counts, Halstenberg could face a sentence ranging from 11 years to life in a California state prison.
At a Line Fire community meeting held on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at Crestline’s historic San Moritz Lodge, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus told some 200 local residents that the person responsible for igniting the blaze is in jail.
“When all is said and done and we take a forensic look at this case, I believe we’re going to find out that this person was possibly responsible for more fires.” Dicus said, adding, “If you are going to disrupt or be an opportunist in San Bernardino County and we catch you, you are going to jail – this I promise.” Dicus’ remarks received thunderous applause from the audience.
Halstenberg’s court appearance was made by way of closed-circuit television in the Rancho Cucamonga branch of San Bernardino Superior Court. He was being held without bail at the Sheriff’s West Valley Detention Center in Etiwanda, near Rancho Cucamonga.
The charges filed against Halstenberg by San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson include aggravated arson, in which a suspect “willfully, maliciously, deliberately, with premeditation ignites a fire to injure someone or damage property.” A minimum of $7 million in damage or costs is necessary in order to charge someone with aggravated arson.
According to District Attorney Anderson, Halstenberg’s first attempt at starting the Line Fire was made on Bacon Lane in Highland. This one was quickly extinguished by Highland Fire Department firefighters. The second try, Anderson said, was at the intersection of Baseline Road and Aplin Street. According to Anderson’s spokesperson Jacquelyn Rodriguez, this small blaze was “stomped out by a good Samaritan.” The suspect’s third attempt at Baseline and Aplin resulted in the devastating Line Fire.
“It shows that there was a relentless obsession with starting a fire,” said Rodriguez. Investigators discovered what Rodriguez described as a “signature” method of igniting the fire, which she declined to describe. Investigators used images from automated license plate readers to connect Halstenberg to the fires.
According to Superior Court records, Halstenberg was additionally charged with three counts of arson of forest land, three counts of possession of material or a device to set a fire, one count of arson of an inhabited structure and one count of arson causing great bodily injury. (The great bodily injury charge was related to a firefighter’s broken ankle.)
Fire officials have estimated that the cost of fighting the fire, so far, amounts to $14 million.
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