Beaumont mechanic Raymond Lee Oyler is believed to be the first person in the United States convicted of first-degree murder for setting a wildland arson fire. In 2009, a Riverside County jury found Oyler guilty and a judge sentenced him to death for touching off the 2006 Esperanza fire, which killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters in the San Jacinto Mountains. Oyler remains on death row but is appealing. Has Oyler’s conviction and punishment deterred would-be wildland arsonists? Although the number of arson wildfires has decreased significantly in the San Bernardino National Forest since Oyler’s arrest, it’s difficult to say with certainty why more fires haven’t been set.