A man who owns a cabin in Holy Jim Canyon and who allegedly sent an email last week warning “this place will burn” has been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the fire that began in the canyon and has charred more than 6,200 acres in Orange and Riverside counties
Forrest Gordon Clark, 51, was arrested late Tuesday on suspicion of two counts of arson, one count of felony threat to terrorize, and one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest, authorities said.
He was in custody at the Orange County Intake Release Center. He has a court appearance scheduled for Thursday. Bail was set at $1 million, City News Service reported.
Of the several cabins in the canyon area where he lives, the cabin that Clark owns is the only one not devastated by flames. Deputies arrived at Cabin 14, where Clark has lived for more than a decade, around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday. He was questioned again and arrested Tuesday night.
The Holy fire has burned more than 6,200 acres since Monday afternoon. More than 600 firefighters have been assigned to fight the blaze. Two firefighters were treated for heat-related injuries.
Volunteer Fire Chief Mike Milligan said he received threatening emails from Clark last week.
“He has issues,” Milligan said. “I hope they get him.”
Milligan said Clark last week ran through the community screaming and sent an email predicting Holy Jim, with roots to the Reconstruction Era, would burn.
Clark had a decade-long feud with his neighbor and other cabin owners, Milligan said. Clark has spouted conspiracy theories about Milligan running drugs, claimed he could read minds and at one point Tuesday stripped off his camouflage underwear.
Clark’s Facebook page, which indicates that he attended Orangewood Academy, is replete with religious imagery, rants about a neighbor, references to marijuana and pictures of Clark’s face in which he says he has skin cancer. Clark is pictured on his Facebook page with a snake.
It appears that Clark has a long history of personal battles, according to court records.
A man with the same name and birth date was held involuntarily in 1996 at a treatment center for mental illness. In 2012, Mary Masayo Clark was granted a temporary restraining order against her son, a man named Forrest Clark, whose birth date is the same as the man arrested in connection with the fire. Clark said he had demanded money from her several times.
“There is no peace in my home when he is here,” she wrote in court documents.
Staff writer Sean Emery contributed to this story.
