Police: Quincy man admits setting fires

1 November 2007

published by ledger.southofboston.com

---

USA — A North Quincy man with a history of arson arrests has confessed tosetting a string of brush fires in the Blue Hills and starting fires in marshesand trash bins, police said.

Ralph I. Marple III, 32, of 100 Faxon Road, told police he started a woods firein September that closed Chickatawbut Road in the Blue Hills Reservation for twodays, according to a police report.

Marple talked to detectives after his arrest Monday night on charges that hestarted fires in two trash bins belonging to City Bank and the Fashion Bug nearthe Hannaford supermarket on Hancock Street in Quincy.

He pleaded innocent at his arraignment Tuesday in Quincy District Court, and hewas held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.

A 20-day evaluation of Marple began Wednesday. Kevin Bowe, spokesman for NorfolkCounty District Attorney William Keating, would not say what kind of evaluationis being done or where.

Marple, who works at the Hannaford on Hancock Street, was convicted of setting afire in a two-car garage May 11, 2006, on Sea Street near Curlew Road.

He was given a two-year suspended sentence on the condition that he continue ina counseling program and remain employed.

Marple was charged with setting fires that damaged two rooming houses onPresident’s Lane and Monroe Road in 1991.

In March, the home of one of Marple’s neighbors burned.

Marple told The Patriot Ledger at the time that he noticed smoke coming from therear of 94 Faxon Road and dialed 911.

Marple told investigators that he had started fires in trash bins and trashbarrels throughout Quincy, according to a police report.

He confessed to starting ‘‘about a dozen’’ fires in the Blue Hills, andto setting fires in the marsh near the Quincy Youth Hockey Arena and in woods atFaxon Park, a report written by Quincy Police Detective Brian Coen said.

Detectives in unmarked police cars were watching for drug activity on HancockStreet near the location of the trash bin fires on Monday night.

An officer on routine patrol discovered the fires and reported them on hispolice radio shortly after 10 p.m.

Around the same time, one of the detectives with the drug control unit saw a manlater identified as Marple talking on a cell phone in the parking lot of theMcDonald’s restaurant at 274 Hancock St. in North Quincy. He was looking inthe direction of the fire station on Hancock Street, the police report said.

Marple got in his car and drove south on Hancock Street when a fire engine leftthe station on its way to the trash bin fire, according to the report.

A detective checked the license plate on the Pontiac Grand Am and found it wasregistered to Marple.

Marple turned right onto Woodbine Street, made a U-turn and returned to HancockStreet, where he headed north past the trash bin fires, according to the report.

‘‘Marple repeatedly traveled by the fire scene as he made a series of turnsand U-turns as he continuously reversed directions … passing the fire scenefor a total of five times,’’ Coen’s report said.

While watching Marple, a detective checked his criminal record and found that hehad been found guilty of burning buildings twice. according to the report.

Detectives followed Marple when he turned onto Willet Street and onto RawsonRoad, where they believe he realized he was being watched, the report said.

Coen turned on his blue lights to stop Marple, but he continued driving, pullinginto a garage behind his Faxon Road home.

Marple was shaking and his voice trembled when detectives confronted him, Coenreported.

Coen said he used a ruse, telling Marple he had been recorded on surveillancetapes that night, and that he responded, ‘‘Well if you have tapes, yeah, Idid it,’’ and admitted to starting the trash bin fires.

Two lighters were found in Marple’s vehicle, according to the report.

Coen reported that firefighters believed some kind of accelerant was used in thefires.

Experts say arsonist is often a youth with problem

By The Patriot Ledger staff

Arsonists are very likely to be juveniles with emotional and other problems,experts say.

‘‘It’s a young person’s crime,’’ Dr. John Hall, assistant vicepresident for fire analysis and research at the National Fire ProtectionAssociation in Quincy, said.

Hall said about half of the people who set blazes are youths who may becompensating for physical or sexual abuse in their homes. They may also havelearning disabilities and ignite fires to act out their frustrations.

‘‘You have to identify these kids early – when they are 9 or 10,’’ StateTrooper Paul Zipper, an arson investigator for the state Fire Marshal’s office,said.

Both Hall and Zipper said they could not comment directly about the recentarrest of a 32-year-old North Quincy man who police said has admitted that hehad started a number of brush and Dumpster fires in the area.

Adults setting fires usually have other agendas, Hall and Zipper said.

The reasons include arson for profit, revenge, racial motivation, thrill seeking,concealing a crime, social protest and extremism.

‘‘They may not have a rational motive for what they are doing,’’ saidZipper, who has been investigating suspicious fires for 15 years.‘‘Oftentimes they will have a reason, but it doesn’t make sense to therest of us.’’

Zipper said over the years he has arrested about a dozen people who wereconsidered serial arsonists.

---

Wild weather hits Victoria, headed forQueensland

5 November 2007

published by www.news.com.au

---

Australia — Southeast Queensland is heading for a wetweek but the rain but is not expected to be as heavy as the flooding that hitVictoria at the weekend.

A storm system, related to the pattern causing widespread flooding acrossVictoria, will develop tonight leading to persistent showers from early tomorrowmorning, forecasters are saying.

While the mainland’s southernmost state faces a huge cleanup, south eastQueensland will enjoy much lighter rain, forecaster Jonty Hall said.

Parts of central Queensland will receive heavier falls, he said.

“There will be periods of rain but I don’t think there’ll be any thunderin it at all,” he said.

“It will develop locally here in the Brisbane area in the early hours oftomorrow morning and then pretty well continue through much of tomorrow.

“Mostly it’s going to be fairly light. We wouldn’t expect huge totalsaround our part of the world.”

What Queensland does have in common with Victoria is the rain is certain toplay a factor in a major sporting event.

While the Melbourne Cup is likely to be run on a heavy track tomorrow, theFirst Test between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Gabba, starting Thursday,might also face disruptions because of the rain that will hang around for mostof the week, including the weekend.

“I’d say it’s fairly likely there’s going to some short breaks in playbut it’s a good thing it (the test) isn’t starting tomorrow,” he said.

“The activity does gradually peter off during the week. It’s going toget less and less.

“I couldn’t say it’s going to be a fine weekend. There’ll be the oddshower around over the weekend.

“There wont be extended periods of rain but a mixture of showers andsunshine.”

 

More than 1000 State Emergency Service volunteers responded to about 700calls for help as Victorians suffered flash flooding, falling trees and propertydamage.

Residents of Tinamba and Newry, in Gippsland, were told to evacuate yesterdayas they faced the threat of a second major flood in a year, caused by heavy rainand the release of water from the Glenmaggie Weir.

A 19-year-old Niddrie man was crushed to death by a branch during a campingtrip with three friends at the relatively isolated Allenvale Mill campsite inthe back hills of Lorne, in the state’s southwest.

Police arrived at the campsite but were too late to save the young man, whodied at the scene after he received severe head injuries.

Insp Bill Mathers, from Geelong police, said the violent storms that lashedthe state had cost the man his life.

“It’s just one of those things that happen occasionally and it’sunfortunate the extreme weather conditions obviously have contributed,” hesaid.

“It was obviously a large tree, a fairly solid lump of a tree, fallingover a tent. It’s just a tragedy.”

The victim’s parents and friends were trying to come to terms with the lossof their son and mate yesterday while they packed up the campsite where thetragedy struck.

“Obviously the young people are quite traumatised by it,” InspMathers said. “It’s something that has shocked them and I think they’restill coming to grips with grief as are the family, which is to be expected.”

He said police were preparing a report for the coroner.

More than 100mm of rain fell in the Otways causing flash flooding andmudslides and forcing the evacuation of campers in the region.

The Great Ocean Rd was last night cut by a landslide at Wongarra, betweenKennett River and Apollo Bay.

Emergency services workers were at the scene trying to clear the rubble,dislodged by heavy rain in the area.

Campers were temporarily stranded at the Cumberland River Holiday Park about5km further west along the Great Ocean Rd.

The Cumberland River had burst its banks, flooded the camping grounds andcovered the bridge on the Great Ocean Rd.

The highest rainfall for the state was recorded at Benwerrin in the Otways,where 141mm fell in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday.

The weather bureau issued flood warnings for the Macalister, Thomson, Avon,Mitchell, Latrobe and Barwon rivers and Traralgon Creek.

Flood warnings were also issued for Gippsland, the Otway Ranges and in thenortheast catchment areas of Mitta Mitta, Upper Murray, Kiewa and Ovens andKing.

SES operations director Trevor White said SES and CFA volunteers had beendoorknocking Newry and Tinamba residents urging them to evacuate in daylightwhile the roads were still passable.

The flooding comes just four months after the town was evacuated duringGippsland’s worst floods in decades that killed one man and left a damage billfor the region of more than $90 million.

Southern Rural Water began releasing water from the Glenmaggie Weir, on theMacalister River, yesterday afternoon.

The water was expected to reach the two towns, which lie directly downstream,late in the afternoon.

Mr White said there could be further flooding downstream as far as Sale andinto East Gippsland. “There is potential for some flooding to impact oncommunities in the east of Gippsland and we will be working in conjunction withthe weather bureau to closely monitor the river systems in that area,” hesaid.

Mr White said residents in the small alpine town of Licola had also beenwarned to prepare for possible flooding.

At Tenamba locals were last night desperately sand bagging and ignoring SESadvice to evacuate the town.

They said they had been through it before and would fight the floodwateragain.

Publican Ron Helmke was watching the water advance across the paddockstowards his hotel.

“We’ll just sit here and watch it come up,” he said.

His son, Lucas, 18, was last night wondering if he would get to today’s VCEexam.

Lucas has been offered a defence force scholarship but it hinges on his VCEresults.

---

Santiago fire report makes several recommendations

20 November 2007

published by www.ocregister.com

---

California, USA — People, property, water quality, wildlife and infrastructure once threatened by the flames of the Santiago fire are now at risk of floods and landslides caused by rain, according to a Burned Area Emergency Response report released by the state today.

All areas near the 28,464-acre burned area are at risk, but the risk is the greatest in Modjeska, Williams and the upper reaches of Silverado Canyon, according to the report.

Some of the recommendations to mitigate the effects of the fire include these:

•Road drainage systems should be inspected

•Evacuation routes should be established and cleared of dangerous vegetation

•Public open space should be closed for up two years.

•An early warning system should be established in case of possible flooding.

The report, by a team of state and county agencies, comes 12 days after the Santiago fire, which authorities believe was intentionally set along Santiago Road Oct. 21, was contained by firefighters. About 50 firefighters from the US Forest Service continue to monitor 24 hours a day, said Jay Bertek, incident commander with the Forest Service.

Firefighters have not found a hot spot in two days, but with high Santa Ana winds and low humidity levels expected Wednesday, fire officials are waiting to declare the fire completely under control, Bertek said.

Federal and state officials began their inspection of the Santiago fire Nov. 1, days before the fire was completely contained. A federal team was assigned to investigate and make recommendations on the burned areas in the Cleveland National Forest, while an interagency team of state agencies examined the burned area outside the forest.

The teams were composed of experts in water flow, soil, geology, botany, engineering, archeology and computer mapping.

According to the report, the worst damage occurred in the upper portions of Santiago Canyon, Bear Trap Canyon, Harding Canyon, Williams Canyon, Arroyo Trabuco, Pine Canyon and Halfway Canyon.

In these areas, hydrophobic soil is believed to have developed. It is dirt that has become mostly repellant to water because a waxy material released by burned brush covers the land and prevents water from penetrating, making it unstable and dry.

Because of this, residents in the area are susceptible to flooding and debris flow, depending on how much rain falls.

Here is a complete copy of the report.

---

Planning, weather were among the fire breaks

26 November 2007

published by www.latimes.com

---

Malibu, Califronia, USA — Minutes after the outbreak of the Corral fire early Saturday, Los Angeles County fire officials had four helicopters in the air attacking the flames, and more than 25 firetrucks stationed nearby were on their way to Malibu.

With the blaze expected to be fully contained today and evacuees allowed to return home Sunday, county Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman credited the quick response and the loss of only 53 homes to planning that began a week ago.

Fire chiefs from throughout the region and federal officials studied computer models of what might happen when the Santa Ana winds were forecast to hit the area Friday.

Based on what they found, they started planning for a massive deployment of hundreds of firefighters from throughout California and other Western states to stand watch over the weekend.

Though Freeman bemoaned the loss of any homes, he said, “To think that you’re not going to lose any structures with this kind of terrain and weather conditions is like thinking you can play football on a wet field and not get your pants dirty. . . . We could have easily lost 250.”

Unlike previous instances, when crews were staged primarily at a single spot, these firefighters were ordered to strategic locations in Chino, San Bernardino and Camarillo, and planes and helicopters were spread out at airfields across the region.

On Sunday, fire officials said the wind-driven blaze was 70% contained and that it had burned 4,720 acres in the rugged canyons above Malibu, which are thick with tinder-dry brush and multimillion-dollar homes. Besides the homes that were destroyed, the fire damaged an additional 34 residences.

Firefighters had cleared a line around much of the burned area by Sunday night and allowed nearly all of the residents to return to their homes. More than 600 firefighters were released as remaining crews focused mostly on flare-ups and hot spots and tending to backfires set to eliminate thick chaparral that could fuel a major resurgence.

“The worst of it is definitely over,” said Glenn Massey, deputy Los Angeles County fire chief. “We feel pretty confident that we are done with this one.”

‘Still some uncertainty’

Besides successful planning, firefighters also benefited from a break in the weather and the ability to focus on a single blaze.

The National Weather Service lifted its red flag warning Sunday night as onshore flow raised humidity above 10%. But meteorologists warned that dry Santa Anas could return Wednesday or Thursday. “There’s still some uncertainty,” said David Gomberg of the National Weather Service in Oxnard. But if the winds return, they are expected to be less forceful than those that fanned what was Malibu’s worst fire in nearly 15 years.

Fire investigators continued to look into what caused the blaze, which began about 3:30 a.m. Saturday on the top of Corral Canyon Road near Castro Canyon Way. Although they declined to rule out arson, investigators continued to attribute the wildfire to human activity, said Los Angeles Sheriff’s Capt. Tom Martin.

Residents began to return to their neighborhoods Sunday, some of them avoiding roadblocks by walking up canyons from Pacific Coast Highway. Clusters of homes were unscathed. Other areas were left with little more than smoldering debris. Downed power lines littered some streets, and the charred shells of cars sat in driveways. The only thing left amid a string of leveled houses on Lookout Road in Corral Canyon was a small terra cotta Buddha.

Film producer Stephen Polk returned from a camping trip with his children to find his house on Lookout Road in good shape. The garden hose, wound neatly when he left, was trailing into his backyard. He tried to find those who might have helped save his home.

“The Fire Department made a stand on the far side of your house,” longtime resident Leonard Skuro told Polk, taking a break from making repairs around his own house. “Later, the bushes lit on fire a few times, and I put those out.”

As other neighbors gathered to assess the damage, Cacilia Tolles drove by in a boisterous display of exhilaration and relief. “They saved my house! I still have a house!” she shouted to anyone she passed.

Glen and Debra Sunyich weren’t as lucky. An ember ignited a redwood deck and flames then devoured their home of 25 years. Only the garage and guesthouse remained.

A small patch of green

They picked through a stack of charred picture frames, though the photos inside were unrecognizable. They also found a stack of melted dishes and a couple of computer hard drives burned to a crisp. Glen Sunyich tried to lift his wife’s spirits by pointing to a small patch of lawn. “Look,” he said, “a little bit of the grass lived.”
 

Elsewhere on Lookout Road, a single stucco house stood unscathed, flanked by three smoldering lots on both sides. Outside the home was a sign: “Open house. Food, water, bathrooms, showers.”

Inside, Jerri and Frank Churchill offered lemonade and food to firefighters and newly homeless neighbors.

“What saved our house?” said Jerri Churchill, the lucky homeowner. “God, brush clearance, a tile roof and stucco walls.”

Flames destroyed two cars in the driveway of 78-year-old Eleanor Mills. She also lost her garage and guest house. Flames came through the front door of her home and got as far as the kitchen before subsiding, sparing the back of the ranch-style home where she raised eight children.

She and two of her sons emptied the salvageable contents of her freezer into a cooler. They also sifted through piles of broken glass. Her son John found a plate commemorating her 40th-wedding anniversary to her late husband, Jim.

“When you look at the house next door, it could have been a lot worse,” she said.

Next door, Jennifer Grossman and several friends dug through the remains of her three-story house. They were searching for her fireproof safe.

When they found it, the safe was still hot to the touch. After they pried the door open, they found the contents warped and melted.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who later toured the ruins with other officials, tried to console Grossman. She showed the governor a plastic shopping bag containing the charred license plate of her boyfriend’s car. “This is what’s left.”

Schwarzenegger praised local, state and federal fire officials for a deployment that brought together the influx of firefighters, fire engines, 23 water-dropping helicopters and two fixed-wing planes.

“They all came together very quickly,” he said.

That planning began with the Nov. 15 conference call during which county, state and federal officials reviewed a computer model of weather and brush conditions that were projected for Southern California during Thanksgiving week.

The prediction was dire. Santa Ana winds of 60 mph were forecast, and moisture levels were expected to plummet — conditions that could help fires burn fast and hopscotch to unburned areas as far as two miles away.

“We thought it was going to be deja vu all over again,” said Tom Berry, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, referring to the firestorms that ravaged Southern California a month earlier.

At first, computer models predicted that winds would blow all week long. An updated analysis showed that winds would blow only after Thanksgiving — on Friday and Saturday — and only in the areas around L.A. and San Bernardino counties.

With the updated information, Berry said, officials decided to stage the crews at the three main areas in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

In addition, smaller strike teams of five fire engines each would be placed at local fire stations throughout the region.

By distributing the equipment and firefighters in this way, officials said, they could protect a wider area and not be impaired by traffic or long commutes.

As of Thanksgiving Day, 449 fire engines from in and outside the state were amassed at various staging areas. They were backed up by 102 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, as well as 89 hand crews from the California Department of Corrections to help cut fire breaks.

“It was unprecedented,” Berry said of the buildup.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department had 100 extra firefighters on duty to drive water tankers and light pickups that patrol wildfire-prone areas with heavy brush. Firefighters who were scheduled to go off duty Saturday morning were also held back to staff 40 additional fire engines.

Within eight minutes of the blaze’s start Saturday morning, a county battalion chief was in a helicopter circling over the fire to help direct the attack. About 10 minutes later, three additional county helicopters — each carrying 1,000 gallons of water — were making water drops in the darkness before dawn.

They were joined shortly by three helicopters from the Los Angeles City Fire Department. Both agencies are among the few whose pilots make difficult nighttime water drops. “We know the terrain,” Freeman said.

Although they credited the response with helping to prevent additional destruction, officials at the Malibu command center warned Sunday that the fire season was far from over.

“If we don’t get some rain,” Berry said, “we could be doing this again at Christmas.”

---

Little Desert National Park still burning

19 November 2007

published by abc.net.au

---

Australia — The Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment says fires across the state over the weekend are a reminder of the major risk facing the state this bushfire season.

It says 36 new fires began, most through lightning strikes, with 260 firefighters still battling seven.

The largest is a 14,000 hectare blaze in the Little Desert National Park in the state’s west.

Department spokesman Mark Woodman says crews have been working overnight, but it is not yet under control.

“The larger ones, while there’s a lot of work being done on them and there’s containment lines around most of the edge, there’s still in both cases more work required today, and given the hot conditions today then the fire danger’s getting up towards extreme, there’ll be a lot of work in blacking out and control, so I think there’ll be a little while before [we would] call them contained,” he said.

---