CAMERAMAN SUSPECTED IN FIRE FREELANCE CAMERAMAN ARRESTED IN FIRE.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LEONA VALLEY - A freelance news cameraman was arrested on suspicion of starting the September 2002 Leona Valley fire that destroyed four homes, blackened 5,000 acres and prompted evacuation warnings as far as west Palmdale.

Joshua Harville, 23, was arrested and his Palmdale home was searched by investigators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, California Department of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service, officials said Friday.

``They obtained a sizable amount of evidence and that evidence is being reviewed,'' Palmdale sheriff's station spokesman Deputy Dave Jennings said. Prosecutors were expected Monday to examine the evidence against Harville and decide whether it was sufficient to file criminal charges. If Harville is not charged by Monday, he must be released from jail.

He was being held in lieu of $250,000 bail.

The owner of a Long Beach video company to which Harville had been selling news footage for more than two years said he was surprised by the arrest and believes Harville is not guilty.

``We have found his work to be of the utmost quality and his character outstanding,'' said Rob Tuckman of On Scene Video Productions. ``We stand behind Mr. Harville and his family 100 percent and are confident that once all the facts have been presented he will be cleared of any wrongdoing.''

Authorities had considered the Leona Valley blaze an arson case since the day it started, when a motorcyclist riding along Bouquet Canyon Road stopped at a house and reported that he had seen a small fire burning beside the road, next to a parked car.

A fire nine days earlier that burned 120 acres had started about a quarter-mile down the road, also after a suspicious car was seen in the area.

Reported about 1:20 p.m., the Sept. 3 fire raced across more than 3,000 acres and burned four homes along Bouquet Canyon by nightfall.

Before it was contained three days later by the arrival of light rain, lower temperatures and aggressive firefighting tactics, the blaze had blackened a total of 5,000 acres but burned no more homes.

The Sept. 3 blaze was the fourth between Palmdale and Santa Clarita last spring and summer, when the Southland's driest rainfall year on record left brush-covered hillsides parched. Together, the fires burned more than 33,000 acres.

Investigators released no details Friday on what led them to Harville or what evidence they had against him. They also would not comment as to whether they suspected Harville of starting the fire in order to film it.

``We couldn't really speak to that though obviously that's the inference,'' U.S. Forest Service spokesman Stanton Florea said.

A friend said Harville was told investigators had been watching him for some time and that he was arrested Thursday afternoon at the Palmdale Courthouse after he discovered that a law enforcement tracking device had been attached to his car.

Charles F. Bostwick, [phone]

Chuck.Bostwick(at)dailynews.com