GLENDALE : Ex-Fire Captain Arraigned on 4 Counts of Murder

An ex-Glendale Fire Department captain imprisoned for starting several blazes statewide was arraigned Wednesday on murder charges stemming from a 1984 fire that killed four people.

John L. Orr, 45, pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder with special circumstances and 22 counts of arson.

Los Angeles Municipal Judge Craig Veals ordered the former arson investigator to return to court Feb. 2 for the setting of a preliminary hearing date.

Orr spoke twice during the brief hearing, and that was to waive his right to an earlier date for a preliminary hearing.

Orr is serving a 30-year sentence at the Terminal Island federal prison in Long Beach for setting three fires in 1987 while attending a conference for fire investigators in Central California. He was convicted in 1992.

He pleaded guilty in 1993 to setting three fires in Atascadero while returning from another arson investigator’s meeting.

Orr also is accused of starting six other fires in 1990 and 1991, in which numerous homes and the Burbank set for the old TV series “The Waltons” were destroyed.

Los Angeles County prosecutors filed murder with special circumstance charges against him on Nov. 21. Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Cabral said the filing of charges was the result of a 30-month investigation.