A water dropping helicopter flies into thick smoke to drop water on the approaching Line fire which engulfed a home on Pine Cove Drive on Sept. 10, 2024, in Running Springs, California. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
LOS ANGELES — A 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the Line fire, which has burned tens of thousands of acres in San Bernardino County.
Authorities on Tuesday arrested Justin Wayne Halstenberg, a resident of Norco. He is suspected of starting a fire in the area of Baseline Road and Alpine Street in Highland on Thursday, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Halstenberg is being held on a $80,000 bail.
The Line fire began Thursday at 6:33 p.m., according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It has since burned more than 30,000 acres, with 14% containment as of Tuesday night. Officials said 65,600 structures were threatened by the blaze.
In the fire’s first couple of days, three firefighters were injured, according to officials.
Two other major fires continue to burn across Southern California, one in Orange County and the other near the mountain communities of Mount Baldy Village and Wrightwood.
Anyone with information related to the arson investigation is encouraged to contact the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department at (909) 425-9793.
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