Holy Fire Suspect Makes Unusual Courtroom Appearance

The man accused of intentionally setting the devastating Holy Fire in Southern California made an unusual courtroom appearance on Aug. 10.

According to SFGate, Forrest Gordon Clark, 51, made several outbursts, flipped his hair while refusing to look at the judge, and he said he felt his life was being threatened. The charges against him, he said while looking directly at the camera, are “lies,” the report stated.

Clark’s bail was set for $1 million. “May I pay for that immediately? I can handle a million right now easily,” Clark said after hearing the bail announcement.

Several days ago, police alleged that Clark sent a threatening email to a firefighter, including one that read, “This place will burn.”

When he was arrested on Aug. 7, Clark stripped naked as investigators tried to ask him questions about the fire, the Orange County Register reported. On the same day, he said that he thought his life was being threatened by gangs. “They told me they were going to send eight Mexicans, big Mexicans, and they were going to kill me,” he said, SFGate reported.

The Cleveland National Forest’s Twitter said on the morning Aug. 12 that the Holy Fire has grown to 22,714 acres and is at 41 percent containment. Firefighters “are continuing to improve fire lines [and] suppress where possible,” it said.

Later that day, the Cleveland National Forest said that the “Trilogy community is under voluntary evacuation,” adding that there are mandatory evacuations for Glen Eden, the Lake Elsinore Riverside community, Blue Jay, Rancho Capistrano, and El Cariso.