A jury on Thursday, May 22, convicted a Norco man of starting the Line fire in Highland which burned 43,978-acres and led to six firefighters being injured last year.
Jurors returned a verdict on nine of the 12 counts against 35-year-old Justin Wayne Halstenberg.
He was found guilty of seven counts related to the Line Fire, and two counts related to a subsequent fire, including aggravated arson of forest land, property and possession of flammable materials, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office. Halstenberg faces a potential maximum sentence of life in prison.
He was originally charged with 14 felony charges: four counts of arson of a structure or forest land, three counts of arson of property, three counts of arson using an ignition device, two counts of arson of an inhabited structure, and one count each of aggravated arson and arson causing great bodily injury. Court records show two counts of arson of property were dismissed on May 5.
The prosecutor alleged Halstenberg started three fires on Sept. 5, 2024 in Highland. The first attempt was put out quickly by firefighters. The second fire was stomped out by a Good Samaritan.
The third try became the Line Fire. The blaze started around 6 p.m. on Baseline Street, spread into the the San Bernardino National Forest and forced thousands of mountain residents to flee. The Line Fire destroyed one home in Running Springs and damaged five other structures.
Halstenberg practiced using ignition devices consisting of a cigarette box, wadded up yellow legal paper and coins to start fires in Jurupa Valley in 2023, Deputy District Attorney Justin Crocker said during closing arguments.
The coins were to give the devices enough weight to throw. The Jurupa Valley fires were put out quickly. Halstenberg has not been charged with these fires.
A similar ignition device was discovered at the Line Fire, Crocker said. Coins were found on the street at the Line Fire and two other locations.
DNA that could belong to Halstenberg was found on three nickels, a dime and a penny, according to a document filed by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.
Deputy Public Defender Luke Byward, who is Halstenberg’s lawyer, said prosecutors failed to show that Halstenberg was precisely at any of the ignition points on Sept. 5.
The first fire, on Bacon Road, was set when Halstenberg was not on that street, Byward said.
Halstenberg was linked to the Line fire through the discovery of his pickup by an automated license plate reader, according to investigators said. He was arrested Sept. 10, 2024 in Norco.
