Phlaum, Clark’s attorney, told jurors that at the time Clark made his comments to investigators he had stopped taking his medication - believing it was poison - and hadn’t slept for days and had been fasting.Īt one point, the Orange County Fire Authority re-assessed its findings regarding the ignition point of the fire, determining it was in the general area of Romero’s cabin rather than inside of it.īut a pair of independent veteran fire-investigation experts hired by the defense argued during the trial that the cause of the fire should have been officially deemed “undetermined” rather than attributed to arson. At another point, investigators testified, when asked directly whether he started the fire, Clark responded, “No,” then averted his gaze, paused and added, “But maybe.” At one point, Clark, in response to their questioning, speculated that the fire could have started with candles near the window of Romero’s cabin. The prosecutor noted that several possibilities - including lighters, matches and gasoline - were found at Clark’s cabin.Ĭlark’s own rambling statements drew the suspicion of fire investigators. While investigators with the United States Forest Service and the Orange County Fire Authority have expressed confidence in their determination that the fire was intentionally set, they have acknowledged not knowing exactly what ignited it or what accelerants were used. It took scores of firefighters more than a month to fully contain the flames, after the wildfire had already consumed more than a dozen cabins, burned through an estimated 23,136 acres and forced thousands of residents in both Orange and Riverside counties to flee for safety. Around 12:46 p.m., callers reported seeing smoke coming from an area near Romero’s cabin, and a short time later flames were seen at the front of the residence. 6 in 2018 within Holy Jim Canyon, a rural Orange County community comprised of several dozen cabins in the remote expanse of the Cleveland National Forest. Which is what he ends up doing.”Īmid hot, dry and windy conditions, the Holy fire ignited on Aug. Sounds like he wants to make a threat, convey that threat and later on in the day make good on that threat. … That (Clark) can do what he wants and get away with anything,” the prosecutor said during his closing arguments on Monday. “That is how this defendant feels about Mr. Hours later, Deputy District Attorney Dominic Bello told jurors, the flames that would soon overtake Holy Jim Canyon ignited in the vicinity of Romero’s cabin. Forest Service and Orange County Fire Authority officials, repeatedly arguing that they failed to prove the wildfire was intentionally set or that Clark was at fault.ĭays after being released from a mental-health hold, Clark’s neighbor, Frank Romero, overheard Clark ranting in his own cabin, and recorded some of the comments, including Clark apparently referring to Romero as “a walking dead man,” saying he was “going to die” and that he had “(expletive) with the wrong person.”
During one press conference, District Attorney Todd Spitzer referred to Clark as a “monster.”īut, during his Santa Ana trial, Clark’s attorney, Alternate Defender Jason Phlaum, sharply criticized what he characterized as a sloppy and inadequate investigation by U.S. Had he been convicted of the arson charges, Clark would have faced a potential life sentence.Įven before the fire was fully extinguished, investigators accused Clark of igniting the Holy fire, with prosecutors later arguing the alleged arson stemmed from a long-running neighbor dispute. Donahue on Thursday afternoon, June 1, noted that Clark has already served his time and will be released from custody. But with the maximum possible sentence for that crime being two years behind bars and two years of parole, and Clark having spent nearly five years in local lockup awaiting the arson trial, Judge Patrick H. The jury did convict him of one remaining felony count of making criminal threats against his neighbor. Jurors, following a month-long trial in a Santa Ana courtroom, deliberated for a little more than a day before finding Forrest Clark, 56, not guilty of three felony counts of arson. Nearly five years after fast-moving flames tore through more than 20,000 wildland acres in Orange and Riverside counties, an Orange County Superior Court jury acquitted the man accused of igniting the 2018 blaze.
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