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Police: Arson suspect may have info on California fire

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(CNN) -- A man arrested Tuesday in connection with a June wildfire is a "person of interest" in last week's wildfire in Southern California that killed five firefighters and ravaged more the 40,000 acres, authorities said.

A spokesperson with the Riverside County Police Department said Raymond Lee Oyler, 37, of Beaumont, California, was "not a suspect in the [October] wildfire." But he is considered someone who may have important information about the arsonist.

Oyler was arrested on suspicion of "two counts of arson in wild land fires" in connection with a June wildfire near Banning Pass, a sheriff's department statement said. Banning Pass is in the same area that was ravaged by the Esperanza wildfire last week.

Investigators interviewed Oyler on Friday and searched his home Monday.

Oyler is being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside in lieu of $25,000 bail. He is expected to appear Thursday in Riverside Superior Court.

The deadline wildfire that began Thursday near Cabazon, west of Palm Springs, and spread quickly to the south and west was fully contained on Monday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

All evacuation orders for neighboring towns, such as Poppet Flats and Twin Pines, were lifted, and 300 firefighters were sent home. About 1,700 remained on the scene.

The blaze, fanned by Santa Ana winds, destroyed 34 homes and 20 garages and sheds.

A $500,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspected arsonist or arsonists.

Mourning another fallen firefighter

Tuesday, a fifth firefighter died from his injuries. Pablo Cerda, 23 was burned over 90 percent of his body.

His four colleagues died Thursday when flames overtook the U.S. Forest Service crew as they tried to protect a home.

Killed Thursday were Engine Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser, 44; Jason McKay, 27; Engine Operator Jess McLean, 27; and Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20.

Of Cerda's death, Jeanne Wade Evans, forest supervisor for the San Bernardino National Forest said, "Today, more sadness is added to our almost unbearable grief."

"I saw both Mark and Pablo as they came in," said Dr. Dev Gnanadev, medical director of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.

"The initial thought process was that neither was going to make it beyond a couple of hours," the doctor said. "My team did a tremendous job in getting Pablo this far. He was a tremendous fighter."

Gnanadev said hospital officials met with Cerda's family on Tuesday and asked them to decide whether Cerda should undergo further surgeries to remove his remaining burned skin.

Knowing that his prognosis was "very, very poor ... they decided to let Pablo go," Gnanadev said.

Cerda was on life support, and hospital officials slowed the intake of drugs that were supporting his cardiac functions, although he remained on a ventilator, he said. "We followed the family's wishes."

Cerda had sustained severe burns to his vocal cords and epiglottis, the membrane that covers the passageway into the lungs when eating or drinking, doctors said. If Cerda had lived, "We weren't even sure what kind of quality of life he was going to have," Gnanadev said.

The fallen firefighters will be honored at a memorial service Sunday, Evans said.

Cerda's family wanted to thank those who had kept him in their hearts and prayers, she said.

"His family and the other families of these firefighters have suffered greatly during this tragic time," Evans said. "All of us on the forest service and those of us in the fire service deeply mourn the loss of these brave men. In my mind, there's no greater calling than to help those in need."

CNN producer Sara Weisfeldt contributed to this report


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