Trial ordered in blaze set during wildfires
By Dana Littlefield
The San Diego Union Tribune, November 28, 2007

An Escondido man accused of starting a brush fire in Vista during last month’s firestorm was ordered yesterday to stand trial on arson charges.

If convicted, Gorgonio Nava Jr.,19 , could be sent to prison for up to seven years. At the end of a brief hearing, Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman determined that prosecutors had presented enough evidence for Nava to stand trial. Nava, who was on probation at the time of his arrest, is being held at the County Jail in lieu of $525,000 bail.

His lawyer, Jeff Reichert, argued unsuccessfully that an allegation of arson during a stae of emergency should be dismissed, saying state law requires public notification that a state of emergency has been declared in a particular area.

Reichert argued that prosecutors had not shown that the public was properly notified.

However, prosecutor Ted Minahan presented a proclamation declaring a state of emergency for Southern California, including San Diego County, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Oct. 21. The proclamation, which remained in effect yesterday, was sufficient notification, the prosecutor said.

According to the testimony, a sheriff’s deputy was told Oct. 23 to go to an area off Calera Street in Vista where a field was burning. The burned patch covered about 200 square feet, and flames rose to 20 feet, consuming trees and brush.

Deputy Timothy Clark testified that there were homes 25 to 35 feet away on both sides of the blaze. Firefighters arrived quickly and doused the flames.

Clark testified that the Sheriff’s Department received an anonymous tip that two people were seen running from the fire to an apartment building on North Citrus Avenue, about 100 feet away.

There, Clark contacted Nava, his mother and his 16-year-old brother. Nava had been evacuated from his father’s home in Escondido because of the wildfires.

Detective Robert Luke of the sheriff’s bomb and arson unit testified that he took statements from each Nava brother. The younger boy told police that Nava started the fire with a torn “For Saleâ€