(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) or (c), a reward of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) shall be paid out of any state funds which are made available to the department for fire protection to any person, other than a regularly paid firefighter, peace officer, or agent or employee of the department, whose information leads to the arrest and conviction, or commitment to a public facility, of any person who willfully and maliciously sets fire to, or who attempts to willfully and maliciously set fire to, any property which is included within any state responsibility area as established under Article 3 (commencing with Section 4125) of Chapter 1.
(b) If the fire, or attempt to set a fire, results in death or great bodily injury to anyone, including fire protection personnel, a reward of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) shall be paid.
(c) If the fire causes substantial structural damage, an enhanced reward of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) shall be paid.
(d) The reward may be paid on the initiative of the department or upon application by any person qualifying therefor. One reward of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) shall be paid under subdivision (a), or twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) under subdivision (b), or twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) under subdivision (c), as the case may be, with respect to the same event or series of events involving the same defendant or defendants. If the department determines that more than one person is eligible for a reward arising out of information relating to the same event or series of events, the reward shall be divided among those persons, as determined by the department, taking into consideration the significance of the information contributed by each of those persons. The department may establish a program to preserve the anonymity of any person providing information and may pay a reward under that program.
(e) Rewards paid under this section shall be considered an emergency fire suppression and detection expenditure for budgeting purposes.
(Amended by Stats. 1993, Ch. 15, Sec. 1. Effective May 21, 1993.)