Global Courant
Prosecutors on Tuesday charged a one-time firefighter with aggravated arson and other felonies carrying a life sentence for starting the devastating Oak fire that destroyed 127 homes near Yosemite National Park.
Edward F. Wackerman, 71, was arrested Friday on suspicion of starting the massive blaze that also destroyed 66 outbuildings, forced a mass evacuation and consumed 19,244 acres of vegetation.
Mariposa County Dist. Attention. Walter Wall said in the days leading up to the Oak fire that three separate fires were deliberately set in the Carstens Road area. The oak fire was lit in a dry forest in the same area by an arsonist, who was eventually identified as Wackerman, Wall said.
Wall would not elaborate on Wackerman’s motive, but Mariposa County Sheriff Jeremy Briese acknowledged that Wackerman was once a firefighter; he said he doesn’t know what agency he worked for.
Wackerman owns a 44-acre estate in the Carstens Road area, not far from the source of the fire, according to county property records.
“The arrest of arson suspect Edward Wackerman is a step toward justice, but it cannot undo the damage already done,” Briese told reporters outside the Mariposa County Courthouse. He noted that the blaze — the worst blaze in county history — caused $8 million in property damage and cost $100 million to ultimately bring down.
Wall filed one count of aggravated arson and three other counts of arson against Wackerman, charges that carry a life sentence if convicted.
Edward F. Wackerman was arrested Friday on suspicion of arson in the oak fire that raged in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada near Yosemite National Park last summer.
(Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office)
“July 22, 2022, the lives of many residents changed as the oak fire swept through our community,” Sheriff Briese said. “As promised, we would use all available resources to get you answers and today is that day.”
He said that “hours of investigation turned into weeks, months, but the persistence of a thorough investigation showed that this fire was set intentionally.”
Wackerman was taken into custody Friday without incident by sheriff’s deputies and investigators from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. He will be arraigned on Tuesday.
The 2022 oak fire consumed 19,244 hectares of vegetation.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
No one was killed by the devastating blaze, but Cal Fire officials reported at least three firefighters were injured and thousands were evacuated.
The oak fire started around 2:10 p.m. on July 22 in the shadow of Yosemite National Park in the Midpines area. A combination of heat, low humidity and parched vegetation hampered firefighters battling the inferno spreading through the Sierra Nevada foothills, leading Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency for Mariposa County. The fire burned until early August before being fully contained with more than 2,000 firefighters battling the flames at its peak.
