Less than an hour after finding a guard shack burned to the ground in the middle of a wildfire that would soon grow to 22 square miles, firefighters found a sport utility vehicle stuck in the road. Inside the truck, they found Keystone beer cans, a gas can and a lighter, according to court documents.
The truck was registered to the father of Jeremy Ortiz, one of two men who on Friday pleaded not guilty to aggravated arson, court documents state. Jeremy Ortiz and friend Jesse Durbin are accused of starting the Eagle fire on July 21.
Ortiz, 23, a member of the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla Indians, was arrested Thursday in a joint law enforcement operation on charges of aggravated arson and forest land arson, authorities said.
Durbin, 23 and also a tribal member, was already in the Vista jail on a vehicle theft charge when he was arrested in connection with setting the large fire. No one was injured in the blaze.
The two men were in a Vista courtroom Friday, where they pleaded not guilty to charges related to the blaze. They are each being held in lieu of $2 million bail.
If convicted of aggravated arson, each faces 10 years to life in prison, Deputy District Attorney Terri Perez said.
When the fire grew out of control and homes were threatened, Ortiz's family home was among the first to be evacuated, according to court documents.
Ortiz was a former employee ---- in good standing ---- of Eagle Rock Training Center, a private company operating a training facility on land leased from the tribe. The company uses the site for military training and offers it to Hollywood film crews, and it owned the guard shack where the fire started.
In a statement issued Friday, the company said Ortiz had "previously resigned his position at the ERTC Identification Checkpoint and was eligible for rehire."
The blaze at the guard shack, which sits at the entrance of the Eagle Rock center, grew to 14,100 acres. It took 2,000 firefighters more than a week and $15 million to extinguish.
Authorities said the fire started along Eagles Nest Road near Camino San Ignacio, about five miles east of Warner Springs.
The motive for setting the fire remains unknown. But an affidavit seeking permission to arrest the two men laid out the findings that led investigators to suspect Ortiz and Durbin.
The sworn affidavit by James Garrett, an investigator from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, was filed in court Wednesday. It states that firefighters responded to the fire at the guard shack about 10:37 p.m. July 21. They found the shack destroyed and about 30 feet of surrounding vegetation burned. Near the guard shack was an empty can of Keystone beer.
A little more than an hour later and less than half a mile from the shack, authorities found a Ford Expedition stuck and blocking the road, Garrett wrote. The hood was still warm. Inside the cab was a red plastic fuel container, a Bic lighter and cans of Keystone beer, he wrote.
The Ford's windshield was cracked and had red stains that appeared to be blood, Garrett wrote.
As the fire spread, nearby homes were evacuated, including Ortiz's, where Ortiz and Durbin were found. Police drove them to safety while firefighters saved the residence, Garrett wrote.
Ortiz admitted that he poured the gasoline and said Durbin lit it on fire, according to the affidavit. Durbin, however, said Ortiz wanted to set the fire and was the one to burn the shack down.
Ortiz reportedly told investigators that he had decided to burn down the shack when he and Durbin were passing by. But Ortiz blamed Durbin for smashing a security camera they found at the guard shack, Garrett wrote.
Investigators found that camera at Ortiz's home.
According to Garrett, Durbin ---- who had a cut on his knuckle ---- told investigators that he had punched the windshield of the sport utility vehicle when it got stuck.
Residents in Warner Springs had expressed concerns about wildfires starting on the reservation because of the military training occurring at the Eagle Rock Training Facility.
After the two men pleaded not guilty Friday, Eagle Rock sent a statement to the media. The company, which found and reported the fire, said it was first concerned with the safety of the reservation residents.
Second, the company said, it wanted to know how the fire started, because that the guard shack had no electricity, generator or other source that could have caused a spontaneous fire.
No training was taking place when the fire started, nor was any scheduled for that week or the following week, the company said.
Eagle Rock said it was "saddened and extremely disheartened to learn the fire had been deliberately set and was being investigated as arson."
The fire spread east from the reservation to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Call staff writer Teri Figueroa at 760-740-5442.