By Paul DeCarlo
The Press Enterprise (Riverside, California)
BANNING, Calif. — A veteran firefighter pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a criminal vehicular manslaughter case stemming from a fire-engine crash that killed a fellow firefighter more than a year ago.
Last month, the Riverside County district attorney’s office charged 47-year-old Michael Lawrence Arizaga with one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. The action followed a yearlong accident investigation.
A California Highway Patrol accident report found that Arizaga had been driving too fast for the rainy conditions, had not removed an emergency brake and had failed to ensure that all firefighters aboard the engine were wearing seat belts. CHP Officer Robert Saiz said Arizaga was not intoxicated at the time of the crash.
Christopher Kanton, a 23-year-old firefighter from Temecula, died after the engine sailed more than 40 feet over an Interstate 10 embankment in Beaumont.
Fire officials say this is the first time a fire engine’s driver has faced a vehicular manslaughter charge in the 101-year history of the California Department of Forestry, which contracts fire services throughout much of Riverside County.
Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Julie Hutchinson said the agency expects no special treatment and respects the investigators’ findings.
“We understand that even if we’re in a fire engine, we aren’t above the law,” Hutchinson said. “We owe it to the firefighter that lost his life not to let this happen again.”
At an arraignment Tuesday, Arizaga met his attorney flanked by family members and fellow firefighters on the front steps of the Riverside County Superior Court in Banning.
Arizaga, a Hemet resident, said he began his firefighting career in Banning 14 years ago and was assigned to a Moreno Valley fire station at the time of the accident. He referred other questions to his attorney.
Michael D. Schwartz, a Santa Monica-based lawyer hired to defend Arizaga by the CDF firefighters union, said he thinks the case should be dismissed and called the criminal filing ridiculous.
If found guilty in the case, Arizaga could face as long as a year in prison. He remains on paid administrative leave pending the legal proceedings, officials said.
A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 17 in the Banning court.
District attorney’s office spokeswoman Ingrid Wyatt said a prosecutor has not yet been assigned to the case.
Terry McHale, CDF public-policy director, echoed earlier sentiments concerning the precedent a conviction would set and the adverse effect it could have on emergency response times.
“If he gets convicted, innocent people will lose their lives and property will burn,” McHale said by phone from Sacramento. “It will be fought with everything the fire service can muster.”