Preliminary Hearing To Start for Eagle Fire Defendants

Update Thursday: A preliminary hearing scheduled to begin Thursday for two men accused of intentionally starting the Eagle Fire near Warner Springs last summer has been postponed until Friday. The blaze damaged 22 square miles of mountainous terrain between Warner Springs and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Jesse James Durbin, 23, and Jeremy Joseph Ortiz, 24, are each charged with aggravated arson and arson of forest land in connection with the July 21 fire. It started at a guard shack on land leased by Eagle Rock Training Center (ERTC) on the edge of the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation. If convicted, the men both face 10 years to life in prison.

A judge will decide at the conclusion of the preliminary hearing whether there's enough evidence to order Durbin and Ortiz to stand trial.

ERTC provided the land to military and other government entities for training exercises. City Beat reported late last year that the tribe is trying in federal court to evict ERTC from its land.

The fire charred 14,100 acres. Two thousand firefighters were brought in from all over California to suppress it, at a cost estimated at $15.4 million. Eighteen firefighters sustained heat exhaustion, cuts, sprains, abrasions and other minor injuries. No homes were destroyed.

Authorities have said they will seek substantial restitution from the defendants if found guilty.

Ortiz was arrested Aug. 4, while Durbin was already jailed in an unrelated auto-theft case when authorities charged him with arson.

-- City News Service contributed to this report.