A Norco man accused of deliberately igniting the 39,000-acre Line fire that forced thousands of residents of Highland and the San Bernardino Mountains to flee pleaded not guilty to nine felony arson counts on Tuesday, Sept. 17.
Justin Wayne Halstenberg, 34, appeared in Superior Court in San Bernardino via a closed-circuit hookup from West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino, where he is being held without the possibility of bail.
Halstenberg stands accused of one count of aggravated arson, three counts of arson of forest land, three counts of possession of material or a device to set a fire, one count of arson of an inhabited structure and one count of arson causing great bodily injury.
The District Attorney’s Office said Halstenberg used an unspecified incendiary device to set the fire on Sept. 5 at Base Line Road and Alpin Street in Highland. He had twice tried to set the blaze earlier in the day, the DA’s Office said.
Four firefighters have been reported injured.
Halstenberg is being represented by the San Bernardino County Public Defender’s Office.
The next hearing was scheduled for Sept. 23.
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