Dump truck driver who caused deadly, 1000-acre wildfire in Calimesa gets probation

A 41-year-old former dump truck driver who caused a deadly 1,000-acre blaze in Calimesa by intentionally dropping flaming debris from his rig in the middle of a Santa Ana windstorm was on probation today after admitting felony charges.

Antonio Ornelas Velazquez of Desert Hot Springs pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of burning an inhabited structure under a pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. No charges were dropped from the original criminal complaint filed against Velazquez in exchange for his admissions.   

Superior Court Judge Thomas Kelly certified the terms of the plea deal and, after hearing one victim impact statement from a spokesperson for one of the families who suffered a loss, imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense -- 24 months felony probation and six months in a sheriff's work release program in lieu of jail.   

Kelly scheduled a victim restitution hearing for Nov. 6 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

Velazquez was arrested in February 2021 following a 14-month investigation by Cal Fire peace officers and detectives from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

"The Sandalwood Fire was caused by a burning load of trash that was dumped next to dry vegetation by the trash truck that Velazquez was operating,'' according to a Cal Fire statement released at the time.

An arrest warrant affidavit filed in February 2021 by Cal Fire peace officers said that at 2 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2019, the defendant was at the wheel of a CR&R trash truck when a fire broke out in the cargo hold as he proceeded through Calimesa.

There were fierce northeast winds blowing at the time due to a Santa Ana windstorm that began that morning.   

Velazquez pulled over on Sandalwood Drive, near Seventh Street, to determine what was burning and hesitated on what actions to take, the affidavit stated. A man driving a Frito Lay truck and another motorist both pulled over near the flaming dump truck and began providing recommendations.

"The Frito Lay driver warned Velazquez multiple times about the fire danger presented by the high winds,'' according to the declaration. "The winds were blowing directly from the road toward the brush wild land area. He asked Velazquez not to dump his load.''

The other motorist "suggested that Velazquez drive toward a nearby freeway overpass to dump the burning load," the affidavit stated. "Velazquez ignored the warnings and released the burning materials onto the ground."   

Santa Ana winds gusting to 40 mph quickly pushed the flames into the Villa Calimesa Mobile Home Park.

Hannah Labelle, 61, also known as James Owen McGee, and Lois Arvikson, 89, were killed as the flames swept over their properties, leaving them no time to escape.

Seventy-two structures were completely destroyed, and another 16 damaged, according to investigators. The blaze charred a total of 1,011 acres before it was stopped just inside San Bernardino County four days later.   

Lawsuits were filed against CR&R weeks afterward. It was unclear how many have since been resolved.

Velazquez had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.