Former Ohio man accused in arson spree in California

A former Columbus resident who became a college professor in California faces a federal charge after U.S. prosecutors in Sacramento say he is suspected of setting several forest fires in remote northern areas of the state near the raging Dixie Fire.

Gary S. Maynard, 47, was arrested Saturday by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and has been charged in a criminal complaint with setting one of the blazes in the Lassen National Forest.

In federal court documents, prosecutors and an agent with the U.S. Forest Service accuse Maynard of setting more than a halfdozen dangerous fires over the course of several weeks.

The U.S. Forest Service began investigating Maynard on July 20 when a mountain biker discovered a wildfire in the sand flat area on the western slopes of Mount Shasta, according to an affidavit filed Sunday by U.S. Forest Service Special Agent Tyler Bolen.

One Forest Service investigator responded to the scene that morning and found a man — later identified as Maynard — underneath a black Kia Soul that had its front wheels stuck in a ditch.

One agent had placed a tracking device under Maynard’s car after he had been stopped briefly by police in Susanville, California, on Aug. 3, according to the affidavit.

Court documents say Maynard lived out of his car, entering evacuation zones and setting fires behind first-responders fighting the Dixie Fire in an apparent effort to trap them between the two blazes.