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The mother of a man accused of sparking the massive Line Fire blaze in California has defended her son, insisting, ‘He did not light that fire’.
Justin Wayne Halstenberg, of Norco, faces nine charges for allegedly igniting blazes across three locations in Highland, San Bernardino, California, according to authorities.
The 34-year-old’s charges include aggravated arson – a potential life sentence – arson causing great bodily injury, arson of residence, of forest land, and use of incendiary devices to start fires.
The fire, which by Friday morning had engulfed 37,743 acres across San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles, still threatens 65,100 structures and is only 21 percent contained, said Cal Fire.
Connie Halstenberg, the suspect’s mother defended him to the Los Angeles Times by text message.
“I do want to say this about my baby boy,” she stated. “He did not light that fire, I repeat he did not light that fire.”
While there were things she disapproved of, she upheld that her son “is not an arsonist”, said The Times.
The Independent contacted Connie Halstenberg for comment on the charges filed against her son.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney claims that Justin Halstenberg attempted on three occasions to ignite the fires and allegedly identified his truck as being in the vicinity of where the fires erupted from license plate readers.
His first alleged attempt was on Bacon Lane, Highland, the second was just east of Bacon Lane on Baseline – a good samaritan stomped it out before it grew – and the third has now come to be known as the Line Fire, San Bernardino DA said on Thursday.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said: “The devastation that has unfolded due to the alleged actions of one man cannot be undone.
“37,000 of forest land and mountain communities might never be what they once were.”
The Line Fire erupted on September 5 and has led to thousands of evacuations and a string of school closures.
The fires were boosted by a southern California heatwave where triple-digit temperatures broke records before cooler weather moved into the region.
In total, firefighters are tackling 6,111 wildfires across California – with Cal Fire saying that 990,548 acres have burned.
Halstenberg, who has been refused bail, remains in jail and is scheduled to be arraigned via video on Friday in Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court.
Cal Fire anticipates cooler temperatures at the weekend which they hope will dampen the prolific wildfires.
