Court documents tell how California arson suspect was tracked with GPS and cameras

With Northern California bracing for high winds and the possibility of more wildfires, federal officials say they have charged a Redding man with serial arson for allegedly setting four wildland fires in U.S. Forest Service lands in Shasta County over the summer.

Eric Michael Smith, 38, is accused of setting four fires between June 23 and July 29 in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest — including one that shut down Interstate 5 traffic — using a “virtually untraceable cigarette lighter or pen torch,” U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott’s office said Wednesday.

Smith, who could not be reached Wednesday, was arrested after a team of U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire investigators used hidden cameras and a tracking device planted on his vehicle, court records say.

The arrest came as federal investigators had been looking into a series of wildland arson fires over the last two years near Gilman Road north of Shasta Lake, court records say.

“Each of the fires began within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, which is land owned by the federal government and administered by the USFS,” court documents say. “The arson fires shared commonalities in that they were set along a remote stretch of the Gilman Road corridor, a road that winds through rural private properties and the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

“The fires were set in close proximity to the road, which afforded the arsonist(s) the ability to set fires and then depart the area with minimal risk of detection. Most of the fires were set during nighttime hours, when Gilman Road receives little to no traffic.”

The investigation picked up on June 23, when the Ellery Fire broke out in the area at about 6:30 or 7 a.m., and officials determined it was arson, court documents say.

By then, officials had set up four hidden motion-detection cameras in the area, and video from the cameras showed a white Acura sedan driving in the area, documents say. Undercover agents in the area also saw the vehicle, documents say, as well as the license plate.

Authorities obtained a warrant to place a GPS tracking device on the vehicle and later saw Smith driving it, court documents say.

“Upon identifying Smith as the driver of the Target Vehicle, Cal Fire officers advised that Smith is a ‘person of interest’ in a separate wildland arson investigation from 2019,” court papers say. “On August 22, 2019, Smith reported the existence of a wildland fire to authorities.

“Cal Fire investigated and determined that the fire reported by Smith was caused by arson along a rural stretch of road south of Shasta Lake, approximately one mile from the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. This fire destroyed numerous structures and approximately 600 acres of privately owned land.”

Court documents say Cal Fire officials interviewed Smith at his home and “found his “statements to them to be factually inconsistent.”

“Specifically, Smith described particular vehicles to the Cal Fire investigators which he told them he believed may have been responsible for the fire,” court documents say. “Cal Fire investigators, however, reviewed video footage obtained from numerous privately owned surveillance cameras in the area, and determined that none of the vehicles described by Smith had been in the area of the fire.”

Smith was followed between July 3 and July 26 and seen driving through rural areas of Shasta and Tehama counties “on a nearly daily basis,” court documents say.

“Between July 3 and July 26, 2020, task force agents documented three arson fires and seven abandoned campfires in areas where Smith and the Target Vehicle had stopped and subsequently departed,” court documents say. “The three arson fires were set on land owned by the United States within the boundaries of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

“Five of the seven abandoned campfires were also set on land owned by the United States within the boundaries of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Two of the seven abandoned campfires were set on lands owned by the State of California.”

On July 23, investigators saw Smith “actively adding wood and trash to a nearby burning campfire” on federal forest land, and then drive away “without making any attempt to extinguish his campfire,” court documents say.

Two days later, another arson fire erupted in an area where Smith had been seen, court documents say.

Smith originally was held in custody but since has been released and has a court appearance set for Dec. 14.

He faces four counts of setting fire to federal land, which could net him five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The announcement of Smith’s charges comes as fire officials are warning of the potential for more fires in coming days after record fires already this year.

“Since the beginning of the year, there have been over 8,500 wildfires that have burned well over 4.1 million acres in California,” Cal Fire said Wednesday. “To date, the total number of fatalities statewide is 31 and more than 9,200 structures have been destroyed.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 1:15 PM.