A Norco man was arrested Tuesday, September 10, on suspicion of starting the Line Wildfire on Thursday, September 5 in Highland, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
The suspect, Justin Wayne Halstenberg, 34 of Norco, was identified, through a collaborative effort by Highland sheriff’s station detectives in collaboration with Cal Fire investigators, as the person who started a fire in the area of Base Line and Aplin streets, investigators said. Rapidly after the fire was set, the conflagration spread into the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Bernardino National Forest.
Halstenberg was located and arrested nearly six days after the fire began. He was booked at the Central Detention Center for P.C. 451 – arson and is being held in lieu of $80,000 bail.
Detective Jake Hernandez is the lead investigator on the case.