Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

PASADENA – Investigators believe a Houston, Texas man is behind a series of suspicious fires that all burned in close proximity to each other and over the course of one hour.

David William Powell, 40, is accused arson and attempted murder. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility on Los Angeles ahead of a scheduled appearance in Pasadena Municipal Court October 19.

Powell is believed to have ignited two very destructive residential fires, two smaller fires and used a hammer to attack a man October 17, authorities said.

The first destructive fire was dispatched at 5:41 p.m. in the 300 block of North Chester Avenue. The fire was located in a detached garage housing two vehicles. The fire extended into an adjacent apartment, according to Lisa Derderian, City Public Information Officer for Pasadena.

Around 6 p.m., firefighters then reported a fire burning one block east and discovered a residential structure well-involved with fire near Holliston Avenue and Corson Street, Derderian said in a written statement.

The Chester fire was quickly knocked down. The Holliston fire was knocked down in nearly 18 minutes. No one was home at the time, but the fire displaced all residents, Derderian said.

A third, but smaller, fire was reported and extinguished at a construction site just before 7 p.m. in the 700 block of East Walnut Street. Another small fire was reported and extinguished in the 1800 block of Locust Street just before 8 p.m., authorities said.

While the first two fires burned, Pasadena Police also responded to Allen Avenue and Corson Street to investigate an assault and found a man in his 50s suffering from major injuries allegedly caused in a hammer attack. The suspect fled in an SUV, authorities said.

Police saw a suspicious SUV near the fourth fire and attempted to stop the driver possibly linked to the hammer attack. The driver fled and ran briefly, but was caught. Police seized evidence allegedly linking Powell to the hammer attack and fires.

Damage caused in the Chester fire is estimated at $50,000. The fire damage on Holliston is estimated at $200,000 to the structure and $100,000 in contents, Derderian said.

Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor

PASADENA - The man caught at the scene of the arson fire he is accused of igniting entered a plea Tuesday.
 
Kristoffer Caldwell, 38, from Pasadena, pleaded not guilty to one count of arson of an inhabited structure, according to Greg Risling of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
 
Caldwell was taken into custody August 2 after witnesses saw him return to the fire, 30 W. Mountain Street. Caldwell apparently returned subsequent to the firefight and was detained by a fire investigator until police could take him into custody, according to Lt. Mark Goodman of the Pasadena Police Department.
 
The fire gutted a 130-year-old, two-story Victorian home around 10:17 p.m. August 2.
 
Firefighters arrived at 10:17 p.m.
 
Caldwell is being held in lieu of $310,000 bail in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles.
 
Caldwell is scheduled to appear in the Pasadena Superior Courthouse August 29 for a preliminary hearing.