Two North County Men Sent to Prison for ‘Eagle Fire’

A man who helped start a fire that burned more than 14,000 acres of remote desert in northeastern San Diego County was sentenced to six years in prison.

Jesse Durbin was sentenced Wednesday in a San Diego County court after pleading guilty to arson for his role in starting the “Eagle Fire.”

Co-defendant Jeremy Ortiz pleaded guilty to the same charge and was also given a six-year prison term earlier this month.

Durbin and Ortiz, both 24, were responsible for starting a fire in a guard shack at the Eagle Rock Training Center on Los Coyotes Indian Reservation on July 21.

The fire spread to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. It took more than 2,000 personnel until July 30 to fully contain and cost about $15.4 million.

Ortiz and Durbin both lived on the reservation.

No homes were destroyed in the blaze.