Home » Fake firefighter at L.A. fire was onetime arsonist from Oregon, police say – Jobsmaa.com

Fake firefighter at L.A. fire was onetime arsonist from Oregon, police say – Jobsmaa.com

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A fire truck arrived at a checkpoint Saturday morning where emergency crews were sifting through debris from the Palisades fire.

The driver told National Guard troops manning the perimeter that he was a volunteer firefighter, a law enforcement source familiar with the incident told The Times.

They have little reason to believe otherwise, said the official, who was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity. The man wore a yellow firefighter uniform — and he drove a full-sized red fire engine with emergency lights, California license plates and an American flag.

But a firefighter at the checkpoint noticed something about the truck's decals, which read “Roaring River Fire Department.” He asked Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies to check the man's ID.

According to a law enforcement official, the man presented an Oregon driver's license with the name Dustin Nehl. A search of Nehlin's criminal history revealed that he had served five years in prison for arson, the official said.

KATU, a Portland television station, reported Nehl pleaded guilty in 2017 to starting a series of fires at a golf course, park and water facility in Woodburn, Ore., about 30 miles south of Portland.

Nehl, 31, was arrested on suspicion of impersonating a firefighter and entering an evacuation zone without permission, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials said in a statement Sunday. Deputies also arrested his wife, Jennifer Nehl.

Dustin Nehl wasn't the first to be accused of impersonating emergency workers to gain access to the evacuation zone. Last week, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said he caught a suspected thief dressed as a firefighter in the Palisades fire zone.

Police found Evan Cedric Reed, 34, wearing a yellow firefighter's uniform and carrying a radio on Tuesday evening on Clifftop Way in Malibu, prosecutors said, when Reed was charged with receiving stolen property and impersonating a firefighter. Badge and unauthorized entry of a closed disaster area.

“We have people who go to all lengths to do what they do,” McDonnell said.

Nehl has not been charged with burglarizing unoccupied homes in the Pacific Palisades area, but a source familiar with his arrest said deputies found tools that could have been used by burglars in his fire truck. They also seized a map showing the burns and radios tuned to frequencies used by city and county fire departments, the official said.

The truck, originally used by a Northern California fire department, was decommissioned and auctioned off about 30 years ago, the source said.

It's unclear how long Nehl was in Los Angeles, but the official said he represented himself as a firefighter to get free lodging at a local Holiday Inn Express.

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