MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — The accused Oak Fire arsonist, 73-year-old Edward Wackerman, was released with an electronic ankle monitor on Monday night due to a court order, the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office confirms.
Wackerman was arrested on June 16, 2023, for allegedly starting the Oak Fire on July 22, 2022. Sheriff Jeremy Briese said it was the most devastating event in Mariposa County history, destroying 127 homes.
He pleaded not guilty to several felony charges, including aggravated arson.
In a court hearing, the sheriff said representatives for the California Department of Justice and Wackerman’s defense agreed that he should be released from jail.
During a “Inside the Office” Facebook live video on Monday evening, Sheriff Briese assured the public that the sheriff’s office will continue to keep a close eye on Wackerman.
“The sheriff’s office will do everything we can to be of assistance. We will do everything we can to work with probation to make sure monitoring is going successfully, and we hope things like this can be reversed,” Sheriff Briese says. “I don’t know if that’s in the legislature or the assembly or case law or what we got to do, but it’s not right.”
Wackerman is set to return to court for a pre-trial hearing in January 2026.
