Photo: Arson suspect)
October 28, 2003
By Sara Carter And Frank Pine, Staff Writers
Sheriff's investigators released a composite sketch Monday of a man suspected of starting the fire that has destroyed more than 400 homes in and around San Bernardino since Saturday.
Investigators are seeking a white man in his early or mid-20s who was seen driving a light gray van away from the fire's point of origin.
Witnesses saw flaming objects thrown from a Chevy or Dodge van along Highway 18 on Saturday morning, about the same time as the Old Fire began.
Also on Monday, investigators with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives interviewed two men in connection with the Grand Prix Fire but ruled them out as suspects Monday, said San Bernardino County Sheriff's Sgt. Bobbie Dean.
The Old Fire had destroyed 500 structures and burned 26,000 acres by late Monday. More homes were threatened as the blaze roared through the San Bernardino Mountains near Crestline.
The Old Fire merged Sunday with the Grand Prix Fire, also an arson fire, which started in Fontana on Tuesday and continued to burn Monday in Devore and Lytle Creek.
Authorities are still investigating the origin of the Grand Prix Fire and have not identified suspects.
A motorist who stopped at a turnout on Highway 18 reported seeing two men in their 20s in the area of Old Waterman Canyon Road, about three-tenths of a mile north of the San Bernardino city limits about 9:15 a.m. Saturday, sheriff's officials said.
One of the men threw something in the brush that ignited a fire, officials said. Both of the men then got into a gray van, described as a late model Chevrolet or Dodge with a full window in the back, made a U-turn, and fled south on Old Waterman Canyon Road. The van could possibly be a 2000 or 2001 Chevrolet Venture, sheriff's officials said.
Two San Bernardino men died of stress related to the Old Fire on Saturday, sheriff's officials said.
Two San Bernardino men - 70-year-old James W. McDermith and 93-year-old Charles Cunningham - died from stress related to the fire on Saturday, sheriff's officials said.
McDermith collapsed while evacuating his home in the 5800 block of Stanton Avenue road. He died at St. Bernardine Medical Center at 4:24 p.m., coroner's officials said.
Cunningham collapsed while watching his home in the 25300 block of Toluca Drive burn. He also was taken to St. Bernardine Medical Center, where he died at 5:32 p.m., coroner's officials said.
Anyone with information on the arson fires is asked to call San Bernardino County sheriff's investigators at (866) 346-7632.
Sara Carter can be reached by e-mail at sara.carter@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8552.
Staff writer Joe Nelson contributed to this report.
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