CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Marine Corps said it was charging an enlisted man with contributing to a wildfire that burned 4,000 acres at Camp Pendleton, Calif., last fall.
Lance Cpl. Nason Lamb faces charges that include reckless endangerment in connection with the Oct. 13, 2008, Juliet Fire, which was actually a pair of blazes that broke out on the Juliet Training Area of the sprawling Southern California installation.
The fires forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from base housing areas and homes in the neighboring cities of Fallbrook and Oceanside.
The Marines said in a written statement Wednesday that investigators concluded that the second fire was started by a Marine taking part in a land-navigation exercise at the training area. The cause of the first blaze remained under investigation.
The Marines' statement that Lamb was charged after a probe by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and could be referred to a court-martial following an Article 32 investigation that was being convened.
