Arsonist who took "selfie" video in massive fire pleads guilty
SACRAMENTO, Calif. --A Northern California man whotook a "selfie" video in a massive firetwo years ago has now admitted he ignited the blaze that burned 80 structures and 150 square miles of land.
Thirty-nine-year-old Wayne Allen Huntsman pleaded guilty Friday to three counts of felony arson in the September 2014 King Fire. He had initially pleaded not guilty.
El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Daniel Proud sentenced Huntsman to 20 years in prison and ordered him to pay $60 million in restitution.
The King Fire burned 12 homes, 68 other structures and 97,000 acres of land in the north-central Sierra Nevada mountains. It took 300 firefighters and personnel about a month to control.
Huntsman was arrested Sept. 17, 2014, five days after he ignited the blaze. That day, local residents told investigators they saw him fleeing the area of the fire, according to a video released by Pierson's office.
"We came across him and asked him what is he doing here and where does he live," resident Stephen Mancuso said in the video. "He was kind of very sketchy with his answers."
His wife Sheila Mancuso said Huntsman warned them their house was going to burn down.
Lars Knutsen, a retired firefighter who was driving in the area, said he saw Huntsman walking and stopped to offer him a ride. While in the car, Huntsman showed off the "selfie" video he had taken on his phone earlier, and told Knutsen he had narrowly escaped danger.
Knutsen himself shot a video as Huntsman showed him the "selfie" video. Knutsen's video, which would later become evidence, was released by Pierson's office Friday.
"I've got a fire right there," Huntsman says in the "selfie" video, before panning the camera in a different direction and showing another blaze. "Look at me, babe. I've got a fire right there. I'm stuck in the middle, babe."
The District Attorney's office said Huntsman's"selfie" video may have been an attempt to portray himself as a hero or to show off to his girlfriend. Investigators later said the massive fire's multiple areas of origin indicated right away it was an arson.
Huntsman initially told police he started the fire to stay warm after a long hike, though temperatures that day had soared into the 90s, Pierson's office said.
No one was killed in the blaze but thousands were forced to evacuate, reported the Washington Post.
Huntsman's sister Tami Huntsman is charged in an unrelated case with murdering two children whose bodies were discovered in a northern California storage locker last year, according to the Post.