Fake firefighter in Los Angeles wildfire is former Oregon arsonist, authorities say

The fire truck stopped Saturday morning at a checkpoint near where rescuers were surveying rubble from the Palisades fire.

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

They had no reason to believe otherwise, said the official, who was not authorized to speak with the media and requested anonymity. The man wore a yellow firefighter uniform and drove a full-size red fire truck equipped with emergency lights, California license plates and an American flag.

But a firefighter at the checkpoint noticed something unusual about the stickers on the truck, which bore the markings of the “Roaring River Fire Department,” the official said. He asked Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to verify the man’s identity.

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

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

Nehl, 31, and his wife Jennifer Nehl, 44, who was with him, were arrested on suspicion of posing as firefighters and entering an evacuation zone without authorization, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials announced Sunday. Sheriff’s officials said they plan to ask the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to charge the couple on Tuesday.

Dustin Nehl is not the first to be accused of impersonating emergency personnel to gain access to an evacuation zone. Last week, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said his officers arrested a burglary suspect in the Palisades Fire Zone, dressed as a firefighter.

Ivan Cedric Reed, 34, was wearing a yellow firefighter’s uniform and carrying a radio when police found him Tuesday evening on Clifftop Way in Malibu, prosecutors said in announcing that Reed was charged with receiving stolen property, theft identification of a firefighter, illegal use of a badge and unauthorized entry into a closed disaster area.

“We have people who will do anything to do what they do,” McDonnell said.

Neither Nehl has been charged with stealing from unoccupied homes in the Pacific Palisades area, but the source with knowledge of his arrest said officers found tools in the fire truck that could be used by burglars . They also seized a map showing burned areas 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, had been decommissioned about 30 years ago and sold at auction, the source said.

It’s unclear exactly how long Nehl had been in Los Angeles, but the official said he introduced himself as a firefighter to get free lodging at a local Holiday Inn Express.