A former university professor who specializes in social deviance was sentenced Thursday to more than five years in prison for starting four fires in 2021, some of which threatened to trap firefighters who were responding to one of the largest wildfires in California’s history, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California said.
Gary Steven Maynard, 49, pleaded guilty in February to three counts of arson on federal land for starting fires while fighting the Dixie Fire, the second-largest wildfire in California history, which has burned more than 1,500 square miles and destroyed more than 1,000 structures.
Maynard, of San Jose, admitted to starting four fires: the Cascade and Everitt fires on July 20 and 21, and the Ranch and Conard fires on Aug. 7. He pleaded guilty to three counts as part of a plea deal and received a total of 63 months in prison. Prosecutors said the fires were put out before they destroyed any structures.
Dixie Fire becomes largest single wildfire in California history
Gary Steven Maynard was sentenced to five years and three months in prison on Thursday for starting four wildfires in California in 2021. (Gary Stephen Maynard)
“Maynard engaged in a string of arson attacks on federal property during the worst fire season in California’s history,” U.S. Attorney Philip Talbert said in a statement.
“He intentionally made a dangerous situation worse by setting fire behind the men and women battling the Dixie Fire, cutting off their chance to escape. It was only because of the swift response of the U.S. Forest Service and the actions of civilian witnesses that these fires were extinguished so quickly.”
Forest Service investigators began investigating Maynard on July 20 after receiving reports of the Cascade Mountain Fire on the western slope of Mount Shasta.
According to court documents, investigators found the bottom of Maynard’s black Kia Soul, with its front wheels stuck in a ditch and its underside resting on rocks, and Maynard was living inside the vehicle at the time.
Former professor indicted for starting four California wildfires
Firefighters spray water along Highway 89 near South Lake Tahoe, California, on September 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Jay C. Hong)
A second fire broke out on Mount Shasta the following day, after which investigators found tire tracks similar to those of the Kia.
Police eventually placed a tracking device under Maynard’s vehicle and determined he had traveled to the area of the Ranch Mountain and Conard Mountain fires in Lassen National Forest.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Anderson wrote in a detention memo that Maynard entered the evacuation zone and “started a fire behind emergency responders battling the Dixie Fire.”
In his sentencing statement, Maynard’s lawyers said his client suffered from serious untreated mental illness at the time of the arson and has since received treatment.
Maynard was an adjunct lecturer at Santa Clara University from September 2019 to December 2020 and also taught criminology and sociology at Chapman State University and Sonoma State University, The New York Times reported, citing prosecutors. He specialized in criminal justice, cults and deviant behavior.
According to the New York Times, Maynard’s colleagues at Santa Clara University told police in October 2020 that Maynard suffered from anxiety, depression and multiple personalities and had been suicidal, the complaint states.
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Charred cars and trees after a wildfire in Plumas County, California, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
As part of the plea agreement, Maynard was also sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay $13,081 in restitution.
The Dixie Fire began on July 13, 2021, and ultimately burned through Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest, Butte County, Lassen County, Plumas County, and Tehama County.
According to Cal Fire officials, it cost more than $610 million over three months to put out the blaze, making it the most expensive fire in California’s history.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
