Former SJ teacher sentenced for starting fires near Dixie Fire

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A former San Jose college professor was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for intentionally starting fires as crews battled the destructive Dixie Fire that ravaged five northern counties. California in 2021.

Gary Maynard, 49, pleaded guilty in February to three counts of arson on federal property, according to U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert.

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According to prosecutors, Maynard deliberately started a series of fires in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, near the ongoing Dixie Fire in the Lassen National Forest. Maynard started some of his fires behind the firefighters who were actively battling the Dixie inferno, effectively surrounding them, and in some cases potentially trapping them.

“Maynard engaged in arson on federal lands while California was facing one of the worst fire seasons in history,” Talbert said Thursday. “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.”

Maynard admitted to starting the Cascade and Everitt fires in July 2021 and the Ranch and Conard fires in August 2021 and was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison, just above the mandatory minimum of five years allowed for federal arson.

According to San Diego State University, which linked to some of Maynard's academic publications, he holds a doctorate in sociology and taught criminology at Sonoma State and Santa Clara universities.

Story by Katy St. Clair, Bay City News.

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