Reuters AlertNet Lite - Slain firefighter's mom appeals to Calif. arsonist

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Slain firefighter's mom appeals to Calif. arsonist

28 Oct 2006 21:35:00 GMT
Source: Reuters

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Firefighters move in to mop up a flare-up in the Esperanza Fire in the San Jacinto Mountains near Banning, California October 28, 2006. A lull in hot, dry winds that had fueled a deadly southern California wildfire gave firefighters a break on Saturday, but they warned residents to remain wary of the deadly, unpredictable blaze.
REUTERS/LUCY NICHOLSON

(Recasts with mother of slain firefighter, details)

By Gina Keating

BEAUMONT, Calif., Oct 28 (Reuters) - The mother of a young firefighter killed in a Southern California wildfire on Saturday asked the person who set it to surrender, as weakening winds gave crews a chance to contain the fast-moving blaze.

The fire in the rolling hills near Palm Springs has killed four firefighters, injured six and destroyed 27 homes. It has so far blackened some 40,000 acres (16,190 hectares) of brush-choked and bone-dry terrain.

Fire crews have contained 40 percent of the blaze, using bulldozers and aircraft, despite seasonal Santa Ana winds that gusted to 45 miles per hour (72 kph).

By morning, the huge plume of dark brown smoke over the mountains had diminished significantly, winds had calmed and firefighters were strengthening their containment lines.

One of the injured men remained on life support at a hospital in the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead with burns over 90 percent of his body. The reward for information about those who started the fire has risen to $500,000.

The mother of one of the slain firefighters, 27-year-old Jason McKay, issued a statement to reporters directed at the unknown arsonist.

"You already know you have a problem," Bonnie McKay said. "I truly believe you didn't think that things were going to happen the way that they did, but they did. Don't let the remorse eat you alive. Come forward -- there are people who can help you deal with the grief and remorse you must be feeling."

She added: "I for one will try not to judge you for there is only one who can do that and I knew my son, forgiveness is in his heart."

'PRETTY MUCH A MOONSCAPE'

The Los Angeles Times reported that investigators were trying to determine if the fire was related to several others in recent months.

Fire crews who had spent the night battling the inferno near where the firefighters died said the area was desolated, but some homes had been saved.

"As we were driving through the area, it was pretty much a moonscape. We encountered a lot of structures that had been lost and some good saves," said Jason Hosea from the City of Long Beach fire department, who had just been relieved after a night on the fire lines.

"We knew what the situation was prior to being deployed. All of our crews had an extra sense that it was dangerous."

California Department of Forestry spokesman Joel Vela said Saturday was a pivotal day. "We are trying to take advantage of the lull in the weather to improve all containment lines and make contingency plans," he said at the fire command center in Beaumont.

Firefighters said the key to some houses' survival was whether their owners had cleared brush.

"Unfortunately, the firefighters that died were in an area completely surrounded by brush that hadn't been cleared from the home," said Moe Sinsley, a Long Beach battalion chief, who also had just left the fire lines.

Vela said some of the 700 residents who fled 30-foot (9-metre) walls of flame on Thursday would be escorted home to survey damage, but likely would not be allowed to stay.

The blaze has yet to wreak the destruction of wildfires in October 2003, which burned for days outside Los Angeles and near San Diego, killing 24 people, destroying more than 3,000 homes and burning some 740,000 acres (300,000 hectares). (Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles)

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Last updated:Sat Oct 28 21:36:25 2006