Former San Jose teacher sentenced to prison for setting fire near Dixie Fire

Lina PortmanMay 31, 2024

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SACRAMENTO — A former South Bay college professor was sentenced Thursday to five years and three months in federal prison for starting a series of fires near the record-breaking Dixie Fire in the summer of 2021, authorities said.

Gary Stephen Maynard, 49, of San Jose, pleaded guilty in February to three counts of arson on federal property.

Maynard admitted to starting four fires during the summer of 2021: the Cascade fire on July 20, the Everitt fire on July 21, and the Ranch and Conard fires on Aug. 7, the DA's office said American in a press release. They were ignited in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and near the then-burning Dixie Fire in the Lassen National Forest.

“Maynard engaged in arson on federal lands while California was facing one of the worst wildfire seasons in history,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert. “He intentionally made a dangerous situation even more perilous by placing some of his fires behind the men and women fighting the Dixie Fire, potentially cutting off any chance of escape.”

The Dixie Fire broke out on July 13, 2021, after a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. power line struck a tree. Over the next three and a half months, the fire burned 963,309 acres in five counties. This is the largest single-origin wildfire in state history.

Authorities first encountered Maynard while investigating the Cascade fire on July 20, 2021. He was arrested the following month after a tracking device placed on his Kia Soul recorded his movements in the forests between Redding and Susanville. Three fires – the Moon, the Ranch and the Conard – were located along its route.

The investigation led authorities to contact the San Jose Police Department, who told them that one of Maynard's co-workers raised concerns about his well-being in the fall of 2020.

Maynard was an adjunct faculty member at Santa Clara University from September 2019 to December 2020. He also taught online courses during the pandemic at Sonoma State University, Monterey Peninsula College and the Chapman University.

In addition to sentencing Maynard to prison, a judge ordered him to serve three years of supervised release and pay about $13,000 in restitution, according to authorities.