Former professor charged with blaze

‘Arson-setting spree’ was meant to endanger firefighters, officials say

SACRAMENTO » A 47-year-old man with ties to the South Bay has been charged in federal court with setting at least one arson fire near the massive Dixie fire, potentially endangering crews battling to contain what is now the second-largest fire in state history, according to court documents.

Gary Stephen Maynard previously lived in San Jose and worked for Santa Clara University.

Maynard is accused of setting the Ranch fire in the Lassen National Forest, behind the Dixie fire lines, on Aug. 7. He also has been linked but not charged with the Moon and Conard fires, which ignited Aug. 5 and Aug. 7, respectively, in the same area.

“Maynard’s fires were placed in the perfect position to increase the risk of firefighters being trapped between fires,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Anderson wrote in a memorandum seeking to keep Maynard locked up while the case against him proceeds.

“But for the dedication and efforts of U.S. Forest Service investigators working around the clock to track Maynard, those fires would not have been discovered in their infancy.”

Authorities first encountered Maynard on July 20 while investigating the Cascade fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, according to an affidavit by USFS Special Agent Tyler Bolen.

Brian Murphy, a USFS investigator, found two vehicles parked on a dirt road 150 to 200 yards away from where the fire ignited, Bolen

wrote. One of the vehicles, a Kia Soul registered to Maynard, was stuck on a large boulder. A man later identified as Maynard was trying to free the car. He told Murphy he didn’t know anything about the fire and “mumbled something about being a professor at a university down south.”

At one point, Maynard asked Murphy to tow him and became agitated when the request was declined, according to the affidavit. Murphy retreated and snapped a picture of the Kia, which ultimately was linked to several other fires in Northern California.

The next day, Bolen and Murphy interviewed the occupant of the second vehicle, a man who told them Maynard had shown up several hours before the fire and walked in its direction before it ignited. He also said he believed Maynard was mentally unstable and described him as “mumbling a lot and having bipolarlike behavior.”

The Cascade fire was contained to a 150- to 200-square-foot area, thanks in part to a pair of mountain bikers who stomped along its edge and dug around its perimeter, Bolen wrote.

According to the affidavit, tire impressions left by the Kia were similar to

those found at the Everitt fire July 21 and the Bradley fire July 11 in the ShastaTrinity National Forest. The fires burned less than an acre and more than 300 acres, respectively.

A tracker was attached to the Kia during a traffic stop Aug. 3 in Susanville. It placed the car in the vicinity of the Moon fire, which ignited Aug. 5, and the Ranch and Conard fires, which ignited Saturday, in the Lassen National Forest, Bolen wrote.

“It appeared that Maynard was in the midst of an arson-setting spree,” according to the affidavit.

Maynard was arrested by Lassen County sheriff’s deputies after he was found in an emergency closure area near the Conard fire. He then was interviewed by USFS agents.

“Maynard denied setting any fires and, at one point, stated that if the agents were going to accuse him of starting fires that he would defend himself in court,” Bolen wrote.

According to the affidavit, Maynard — upon learning from a deputy that he was being charged with felony arson — “became enraged and began kicking the jail cell door and screamed, “I’m going to kill you, (expletive) pig! I told those (expletive)s I didn’t start any of those fires!”

Maynard’s license and vehicle registration listed an address in San Jose, but he no longer appeared to be living there, Bolen wrote. The special agent said he consulted with the San Jose Police Department, which told him one of Maynard’s colleagues had raised concerns about his well-being in October 2020.

“This concerned citizen told officers that Maynard had told her he was suffering from anxiety, depression, split personality and that he wanted to kill himself,” according to the affidavit. “This concerned citizen said that Maynard had moved out and was possibly living somewhere out of his vehicle.”

Maynard was an adjunct faculty member in the sociology department of Santa Clara University from September 2019 to December 2020, the university said in a statement.

The Sacramento Bee reported that Maynard also was listed as a criminal justice studies lecturer at Sonoma State University, where he specialized in criminal justice, cults and deviant behavior.

A spokesperson told the newspaper Maynard is no longer with the university.

As of Wednesday, the Dixie fire had covered 501,008 acres in Butte, Lassen, Plumas and Tehama counties and was just 30% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The fire has destroyed 1,045 structures, including 555 residences, and damaged 69 others.

Three firefighters have been injured.