Youth Is Not Being Charged With Arson : Fire: Juvenile Court says that the 17-year-old will instead face a felony count of recklessly setting a fire in the $1-million Anaheim Hills blaze. The case and the boy’s name will remain confidential.

ORANGE —  The 17-year-old arrested in connection with the $1-million Anaheim Hills blaze that gutted two homes and damaged 29 others has been charged with recklessly setting a fire, but not with arson, a juvenile court official said Monday.

Orange County Juvenile Court Referee James Odriozola said the case will remain confidential, along with the juvenile’s name, in keeping with juvenile court guidelines designed to protect youthful offenders from public exposure.

Since his Nov. 8 arrest, the juvenile has become the object of intense public interest and anger as the only person charged in connection with suspected arson fires that have tormented Orange County in recent weeks.

Investigators said the Oct. 26 fire started on a hillside hangout on Stage Coach Road near the border of Villa Park and Orange. Fire officials found 40-ounce malt liquor bottles strewn amid the ashes where they believe the fire began. They said the teen-ager was drinking and smoking on the hillside with two juvenile girls and two 18-year-old men.

The teen-ager told investigators that he had only dropped a match, and did not intentionally start the wildfire, sources said. He said he was “just screwing around” when the fire started.

“Maybe it was an accident,” said Lauren Wooley, 16. “But if it wasn’t an accident, that really upsets me, because he burned my house down. . . . I would like to give him a piece of my mind. . . . I guess we’ll never know the truth.”

Friends said the teen-ager, who attended Canyon Acres High School in Anaheim Hills, where he was on the wrestling team, had not been in trouble before his arrest.

Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Carl Biggs declined Monday to discuss the case, in keeping with a court order that the matter remain confidential. Biggs said he also could not discuss whether he plans to try the juvenile as an adult.

If convicted in adult court, the juvenile could face up to four years in prison. If he had been charged with arson, the maximum penalty would have been eight years. The juvenile court, however, has discretion to hand down a more lenient sentence that will punish a youthful offender but also work toward rehabilitation.

The youth’s public defender could not be reached for comment Monday.

The case is set for hearing Dec. 2.

Odriozola’s statement made clear that the particulars of the case and the identity of the minor will remain out of the public realm.

“However, this court will release the following information,” his statement said. “The minor was not charged with arson. The minor has been charged with the crime of recklessly causing a fire that caused an inhabited structure to burn, a felony,” the statement read.

The case has underscored the difficult role played by juvenile courts, which must juggle the demands of protecting public safety and punishing youthful offenders while also helping juveniles to get their lives back on track.