Very plausible and has occurred in a few cases in the past. This event however was unique. Very strong Santa Ana winds were blowing as these fires were set or broke out. These particular winds were the strongest we have had here in a very long time. Sunday night it felt as if my roof was going to blow off for about 5-6 of the peak gusts. Fireman (or exFireman) would be knowledgeable enough to realize that setting a fire in those winds would be very dangerous and completely uncontrollable (as we have seen from the damages). Luckily the winds have mostly stopped tonight, so there may be possibilities for some mischief, but those will probably be fireman setting backfires. Having stated all that however, I would not be surprised to learn that a couple of those new fires that appeared close to existing fires may have been backfires that got out of control. Intent however was good.
I’ve totally not kept with this fire situation, so I was just going from the snip from the officer. You’re right though, once the intitial instance(s) are on the table, it creates it’s own wind systems. Combine that with unusual wind patterns locally and the fireman are really putting it all on the line even getting out and setting some backfires.
Media should run an unconfirmed piece on a faux suspect talking with authorities, and mention that the there’s rumors of a deal trying to be worked out as an accident. Then run it as no good, after the headlines are made :) Could get a nibble.