Banning Transient Admits Guilt, Sentenced In Setting Silver Fire

BANNING, CA — Responsibility for the 2013 Silver Fire, which blackened more than 20,000 acres and injured multiple people, was admitted by a transient who has been in county custody for the past six years. Superior Court Judge Jorge Hernandez took Stephen Patrick Medlock's plea, imposing the 16-year sentence with credit for time served.

Stephen Patrick Medlock admitted guilt to the Riverside County District Attorney's office in over a dozen felony charges in this case, according to a report from the San Bernardino Sun.

During a hearing at the Banning Justice Center, Superior Court Judge Jorge Hernandez accepted Stephen Patrick Medlock's plea and imposed a stipulated 16-year sentence, granting him credit for time served and a double credit required under state law to reduce prison overcrowding, according to City News Service reports. The combined credits totaled almost 12 years, effectively reducing the defendant's sentence to about four years.

Medlock admitted 14 counts of burning an inhabited structure. He had originally been charged with 37 arson-related allegations.

Medlock was arrested in San Bernardino County in 2018 following an extensive investigation by Cal Fire arson personnel and Riverside County sheriff's detectives.

The Silver Fire erupted on Aug. 7, 2013, sweeping through the foothills and mountains south of Banning deep into the San Bernardino National Forest.

Investigators said Medlock used a Bic-style lighter to ignite the blaze. He told sheriff's detectives the fire began accidentally when he laid the lighter down in the brush and it malfunctioned, according to court papers.

The fire charred 20,292 acres and damaged roughly 60 structures in the Poppet Flats neighborhood. A mountain biker was seriously burned shortly after the fire broke out, and 12 firefighters suffered various minor to moderate injuries trying to contain the wildland blaze over a six-day period.

Evacuations were implemented in Poppet Flats, Mt. Edna, Silent Valley and Twin Pines during the height of the fire. The north half of Highway 243, from Twin Pines to Banning, was closed for more than a week as a public safety precaution.

Medlock had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

Related:

Inside the Silver Fire: Photos From Evacuated Areas in San Jacinto Mtns