CA Bay Area 'Shaman' May Have Started Other Fires

Sep. 28—The 30-year-old Palo Alto woman charged with igniting the Sept. 22 Fawn Fire that has destroyed 185 structures near Redding is a suspect in a smaller fire started the night before.

Alexandra Souverneva was interviewed by Cal Fire officer Matt Alexander after she was arrested Sept. 22, and his narrative included with the criminal complaint from the Shasta County District Attorney's Office said that Souverneva may also be responsible for a fire started Sept. 21 at 9:13 p.m. near the intersection of Cascade Boulevard and Shasta Dam Boulevard. The complaint noted that the Shasta Lake Fire Protection District determined the cause of the fire to be arson.

"Based on the overwhelming evidence indicating Souverneva's responsibility in the Fawn Fire, it is my opinion there is a high possibility she is responsible for the vegetation fire in Shasta Lake City the previous evening," Alexander wrote in the narrative. "It is my experience that arsonists are responsible for multiple fires and will light multiple fires in a short timeframe."

The district told SFGATE that the Sept. 21 fire grew to a half-acre.

Alexander asked Souverneva where she was on Sept. 21 and she said she was at the Shasta County Jail and released at approximately 4 p.m.

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The Shasta County District Attorney's Office confirmed with SFGATE that Souverneva was arrested on Sept. 21 for resisting arrest and was later released.

"We do not have details on anything else but we do have a pending case for that arrest," Briona Haney, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office, wrote in an email.

No charges have been filed against Souverneva for the Sept. 21 fire, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The Fawn Fire sparked Wednesday, Sept. 22, grew to 3,500 acres in less than 24 hours and exploded the afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 23, amid breezy conditions, threatening the Mountain Gate neighborhood. The fire was 8,577 acres Tuesday morning with 65% containment, Cal Fire said in a recent incident report.

Cal Fire said the Fawn Fire was first reported at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday in a remote canyon on property adjacent to the J.F. Shea and Mountain Gate quarries.

Employees of the quarry reported seeing a female trespasser "acting irrationally" before the fire erupted, Cal Fire said. Before losing sight of her, she "discarded items along a dirt road that consisted of two small Co2 cartridges and a AA battery," the Cal Fire narrative said.

Cal Fire said Souverneva later walked out of the brush near the fire line, approached firefighters and told them she was dehydrated and needed medical help. Souverneva reportedly had an operable lighter in her pocket as wells as CO2 cartridges and a "pink and white item containing a green leafy substance she admitted to smoking that day," Cal Fire's narrative said.

She told Cal Fire law enforcement she was hiking and "attempting to get to Canada," the Cal Fire narrative reported. She also said she was trying to boil water from a puddle that contained bear urine.

During an interview with Cal Fire and law enforcement, officers came to believe Souverneva was responsible for setting the fire, officials said. She was booked into the Shasta County Jail and charged with felony arson with an enhancement for committing arson during a state of emergency. She pleaded not guilty Friday morning. If convicted, she could face up to nine years in state prison.

An attorney at a Sept. 24 court appearance said Souverneva made statements to law enforcement suggesting a potential mental health crisis "or something to do with drug abuse," the Redding Record Searchlight reported.

Judge Adam Ryan increased bail from $100,000 to $150,000 for the felony charge of arson on forest land, noting the fire damage was mounting. Another $25,000 was tacked on for arson during California's current state of emergency over wildfire danger, the local newspaper reported.

Souverneva is suspected of starting other fires in Shasta County and throughout the state, District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said in a press conference Sept. 24.

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