The Associated Press

PHOTO AP/Ric Francis Raymond Lee Oyler is shown into a courtroom in Riverside, Calif., in November last year.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Prosecutors will pursue the death penalty against the California man accused of setting a wildfire last fall that killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters.

Riverside County District Attorney Rob Pacheco said Wednesday he decided to pursue death against Raymond Lee Oyler after consulting with the family members of the five firefighters and reviewing all the evidence with the investigative team. He said several factors, including Oyler's past criminal record and the severe losses suffered by the community, influenced his decision.

Oyler, a 36-year-old auto mechanic, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of using an incendiary device and 23 counts of arson between May 16 and Oct. 26, 2006. He was arrested Oct. 31 after a wind-whipped fire raced through the foothills near Banning, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.

"I considered what I personally considered to be an incredible and callous disregard to the safety of the firefighters who would respond to the fires over a period of time," Pacheco said. "He expressed on numerous occasions that he wanted to burn the mountain down."

Oyler was convicted in 2001 on a drug possession charge and has had run-ins with the law in California and Missouri.

Oyler's attorney, Mark McDonald, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Pacheco told The Associated Press that not all family members of the fallen firefighters agreed about whether to pursue the death penalty.

"Some of the families urged me most directly to seek death, other families were ambivalent and others still are opposed the death penalty in spite of the loss of a loved one," he said.

During a preliminary hearing two months ago, Oyler's fiancee and cousin testified that he had boasted about lighting fires in the area during the summer months.

Prosecutors allege that Oyler set the fires using several variations of devices made of wooden stick matches and Marlboro cigarettes.

Investigators have said that they were able to match Oyler's DNA with samples from cigarette butts used to start some of the fires, but not the one that killed the firefighters.