VAN NUYS, Calif. -- A man who helped set the Corral Canyon fire that destroyed 53 Malibu homes and injured six firefighters in November 2007 was sentenced Thursday to five years probation and ordered to perform 300 hours of community service.
Brian David Franks, 28, was also banned from returning to the Corral Canyon area while he is on probation. Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Leslie Dunn also required Franks to perform brush-clearance work as part of his community service hours.
Franks pleaded no contest Oct. 1 to a felony charge of recklessly causing a fire. As part of his plea deal, Franks agreed to be available to testify against the other four defendants in the case.
Brian Alan Anderson, 23, and William Thomas Coppock, 24, were ordered last month to stand trial on one count each of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury and recklessly causing a fire to an inhabited structure.
The criminal complaint includes the allegation that the crimes were committed "during and within an area of a state of emergency."
Co-defendants Eric Matthew Ullman, 19, and Dean Allen Lavorante, 20, are due back in court later this month, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for them to stand trial on the same charges.
Authorities allege that the men went to a cave and notorious party spot on state park land overlooking Malibu to drink alcohol with girls and have a campfire when the area was under a red flag warning because of high winds and low humidity.
The Nov. 24, 2007, wildfire consumed 53 homes and severely damaged 23 others.
Franks was due to be sentenced last month, but the hearing was delayed because of a flier that was circulated around Malibu that provided the wrong court date. Dunn agreed to postpone the hearing so Malibu residents could speak at Franks' sentencing. Several residents spoke during Thursday's hearing and described the devastation the fire caused in their neighborhoods.
"I thought, 'My gosh, I'm going to burn up," one woman said as she described embers falling around her. "Even though we looked out on the vast ocean, the desert is all around us. Those of us who live there know that we must be very careful.
"I think these men ought to come help us plant. They ought to dig in the ground, hammer nails, they ought to carry things. It ought to be service."
