Esperanza arson suspect charged in 13 more fires

The Riverside County district attorney’s office has filed 13 new counts of arson against Raymond Lee Oyler, the 36-year-old auto mechanic from Beaumont charged with starting the 40,000-acre Esperanza fire west of Palm Springs.

Five federal firefighters were killed in the October blaze, and prosecutors previously had charged Oyler with five counts of murder in their deaths, along with 11 counts of arson for fires that were started in Riverside County from June to October.

Oyler is now charged with starting 13 additional fires in Riverside County last year -- for a total of 23 fires -- from May to October. He also now faces 17 counts of possession of materials to commit arson. The district attorney’s office apparently discarded two earlier charges listed in the original complaint.

Oyler is expected to be arraigned on the new charges Monday, when he will appear in a Riverside courtroom for a hearing on whether there is evidence to proceed to trial. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges so far.