ARSON STORY TO LIGHT UP TV.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

GLENDALE - The notorious case of former Glendale arson investigator John Orr, who was convicted of setting a series of fires that destroyed dozens of homes and killed four people, will be revisited Wednesday in a one-hour documentary on Court TV.

Shown as part of Court TV's signature documentary series ``The System,'' ``The Firestarter'' is scheduled to air at 10 p.m.

The documentary tells the story of how dogged investigators were able to connect the fires to Orr using forensic evidence. It also features a jail-house interview with Orr from the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary, where he is serving four life terms and continues to plead innocence.

``This is the first chance I've ever seen him on television refute some of the evidence,'' said executive producer Jean Wiegman, a Glendale resident.

``We also had a lot more access to the criminal files, the court files, the real evidence,'' she added, contrasting her work with a 1995 ``Nova'' documentary shown on KCET, called ``The Hunt for the Serial Arsonist.''

The documentary begins with two mysterious fires set on March 11, 1987, in crafts stores in Bakersfield. The person who set the fires left behind a fingerprint on a delayed incendiary device. Four years later - after more mysterious fires - the fingerprint was traced to Orr.

``Instantly, the hair went up on the back of my neck,'' said Bakersfield fire investigator Marvin Casey in the documentary, adding that he had once been a student of Orr - then a celebrated arson investigator known throughout the country because of his published writings and seminars.

``John was known up and down the state as an arson expert. He had taught classes everywhere and was looked on as the expert to go to when we had difficult fire scenes or questions,'' Burbank Fire Department Capt. Bob Reinhardt recalled in the documentary.

The documentary culminates with the discovery of Orr's manuscripts for an unpublished novel about a firefighter who sets fires that bear striking similarities to those in Southern California and the Central Valley.

``Never in my wildest dreams did I expect it would be a virtual blueprint of the same fires we were investigating - right down to accurate description of witnesses that could only have been gained by someone observing the fires as they were occurring,'' said Mike Matassa, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Matassa concludes his interview with the chilling thought that authorities may never know how many fires Orr has set because the former fire investigator has denied responsibility and may never admit to his crimes.

Orr insists in the documentary the only fires he has ever set were during training exercises.

No Glendale fire officials are featured in the documentary because the department declined requests for interviews, said Wiegman.

``There is a big degree of hurt and pain that John's actions have caused not only directly to the families he affected, but also to the firefighters he has worked with,'' said Fire Marshal Steve Howard, who is the spokesman for the Glendale Fire Department.

Howard said the department also recently turned down a request by HBO to take part in a docudrama on Orr because it sees such involvement as a distraction from its mission to save and help people.

``It's our desire and we strive on a daily basis to be known as a fire department that is here to serve, that is here to protect, and wants the best for those that they come in contact with,'' he said.