An arsonist has been indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday for his role in starting additional fires near the devastating Dixie Fire this past summer, according to reporting by KPIX.
Gary Stephen Maynard, 47, previously a college professor in the Bay Area, has been charged with four counts of arson to federal property and setting timber on fire, the station reported.
Maynard could be sentenced for up to 20 years in prison and could have to pay a penalty of $250,000 for each count.
When Maynard was apprehended over the summer, investigators found that he’d been responsible for the Ranch Fire in Lassen National Forest, as reported by KCBS Radio.
If the fire had spread, emergency personnel fighting the Dixie Fire in Lassen and at Shasta Trinity National Forest could have been boxed in, trapped between the two blazes.
The Dixie Fire burned nearly 1 million acres in the more than 100 days it was active over the summer, going down in California history as one of the most deadly wildfires the state has ever seen.
Along with the Ranch Fire, Maynard has also been connected to the Cascade Fire and Everitt Fire in Siskiyou County and the Conard Fire in Lassen County, the station reported.
Last year, Maynard was a professor with Santa Clara University sociology department. He’d previously taught at Sonoma State University as well.
Maynard is currently being held in the Sacramento Main Jail without bail, the station reported.
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