{"id":61948,"date":"2026-10-09T18:59:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T01:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61948"},"modified":"2026-10-09T18:59:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T01:59:12","slug":"california-man-charged-with-arson-in-1048-acre-bouquet-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61948","title":{"rendered":"California man charged with arson in 1,048-acre Bouquet Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 21px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14473 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/U.S.-Forest-Service.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"267\" height=\"281\" \/>LOS ANGELES<\/span><\/strong> \u2014 <span style=\"font-size: 22px;\">A Santa Clarita man was charged Oct. 9 with federal arson for allegedly setting the Bouquet Fire, which burned about 1,048 acres of federally owned land in the Angeles National Forest, prosecutors said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\">Rodney Ameile Saba, 70, faces one count of arson involving federal property. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\"><strong>Quick fact checklist<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\"><strong>Defendant:<\/strong> Rodney Ameile Saba, 70, of Santa Clarita.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\"><strong>Charge:<\/strong> Federal arson; complaint filed Oct. 9.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\"><strong>Fire:<\/strong> Oct. 3; about 1,048 acres of federal land burned.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\"><strong>Cause:<\/strong> Allegedly a cigarette thrown onto fireworks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\"><strong>Penalty:<\/strong> Up to 20 years if convicted.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\"><strong>Status:<\/strong> Presumed innocent; allegations remain unproven.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Firefighters battle 843-acre blaze near Santa Clarita\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7gg9KyrFVRY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\">According to the criminal complaint, Saba started the fire about 2:13 p.m. Oct. 3 behind his residence on Bouquet Canyon Road.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\">Shortly before the blaze erupted, Saba warned a neighbor to expect a noise resembling a shotgun blast, the complaint alleges. Witnesses then heard an explosion, followed by Saba yelling for help as flames spread rapidly up the hillside.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\">Saba told investigators he threw a cigarette from his porch onto fireworks, causing them to explode and ignite the fire, according to the complaint. Investigators recovered a lighter, cigarettes, shotgun ammunition and an aerial mortar firework from his cabin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\">U.S. Forest Service investigators concluded the fire was \u201cprobably caused by fireworks\u201d after ruling out lightning, campfires, debris burning and other possible causes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\">Local authorities arrested Saba on Oct. 3 on related state charges. The federal complaint was filed Oct. 9, and prosecutors said he was expected to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\">The complaint also lists prior felony convictions, including mayhem, vandalism, drug possession, criminal threats, manufacturing or possessing a dangerous weapon, and possession of a stolen vehicle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 22px;\">\u00a0Saba is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES \u2014 A Santa Clarita man was charged Oct. 9 with federal arson for allegedly setting the Bouquet Fire, which burned about 1,048 acres of federally owned land in the Angeles&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>California man charged with arson in 1,048-acre Bouquet Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LOS ANGELES \u2014 A Santa Clarita man was charged Oct. 9 with federal arson for allegedly setting the Bouquet Fire, which burned about 1,048 acres of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61948\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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