A sign outside the Highland fire station on Base Line Street thanks firefighters for their work on the Line fire, which continued to burn in the San Bernardino Mountains on Oct. 3, 2024. Arson defendant Justin Wayne Halstenberg has pleaded not guilty to 14 felony charges. (Brian Rokos, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
The Norco man accused of setting the 43,000-acre Line brush fire in Highland that continues to burn in the San Bernardino Mountains was linked to the blaze through a match of DNA found on an ignition device described as legal paper wrapped around coins, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said.
Those new details were revealed in testimony during a two-day preliminary hearing at the San Bernardino Justice Center for 34-year-old Justin Wayne Halstenberg, when Superior Court Judge William Jefferson Powell IV ruled on Wednesday, Oct. 2, that there was sufficient evidence to bind Halstenberg over for trial on 14 felony counts.
The DNA evidence, officials said, helped link the fires to Halstenberg. His pickup, investigators previously said, was captured in photographs shot by automated license-plate-reader cameras in the area.
The cost to fight the Line fire has reached $82 million, the DA’s Office said. Four firefighters have been injured, and one structure has been destroyed, San Bernardino National Forest officials said. Four others were damaged.
The 14 counts represent five more than originally charged.
The DA’s Office this week added three counts of arson of property, one count of arson of a structure or forest land, and one count of arson of an inhabited structure.
Halstenberg was previously charged with three counts each of arson of a structure or forest land and arson using an ignition device; and one count each of aggravated arson, arson of an inhabited structure and arson causing great bodily injury.
The new arson of property counts were related to a home in Highland that suffered minor damage from an ember; a home in Running Springs where an address sign and siding melted, a fence burned and a window broke; and unspecified East Valley Water District property that was damaged, the DA’s Office said.
Halstenberg, represented by the San Bernardino County Public Defender’s Office, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He is next due in court on Oct. 11. He was being held without the possibility of bail.
District Attorney Jason Anderson said Halstenberg tried setting the blaze two times on Sept. 5 in Highland before succeeding. The first attempt came on Bacon Lane, but the Fire Department quickly extinguished the flames. The second try was on Base Line Road and Alpin Lane. A good Samaritan stomped out that fire, said Jacquelyn Rodriguez, a DA’s spokeswoman.
A third attempt at the same location resulted in the fire that continued to burn on Thursday and was 79% contained.
The flames are most active on the far-east end, but the fire is headed into unpopulated drainage areas, said Jeff Gillette, a spokesman for the incident commanders.
Firefighters have gone into hard-to-reach areas, and water-dropping helicopters have been flying at night.
The fire flared up earlier this week when flames found fuel to burn on slopes; they can act like a chimney for hungry flames.
“Firefighters are doing a great job buttoning up that east end,” Gillette said.
Some roads remain closed: Highway 38 between Valley of the Falls Drive and Lakewood Road, and Highland Avenue in San Bernardino to 2.3 miles south of the junction of Highway 18 and Live Oak Road.
A community meeting has been scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Big Bear Performing Arts Center, at 39707 Big Bear Blvd. in Big Bear.
Originally published at Brian Rokos