Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this article:
- The new TV show Smoke is fictional but inspired by the true story of California arsonist John Orr, who set fires in the 1980s and ’90s.
- Orr had a surprising connection to firefighting. Two key clues led to his capture.
- What Orr has said about his crimes and where he is today.
Smoke, a new show on Apple TV+, thrusts an arson examiner and ambitious detective onto the trail of two pyromaniacs leaving destruction in their wake. Even more alarming is the real string of deadly fires that terrorized California four decades ago and inspired the twisty drama.
Having debuted on the streaming service Friday, Smoke stars Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett as the investigative duo Dave Gudsen and Michelle Calderone. The series is based on the true crime podcast Firebug, in which host Kary Antholis examined real fires that occurred in the Golden State during the 1980s and ’90s and eventually pointed to an unlikely perpetrator at fault.
Here’s everything you need to know about the true case that inspired Smoke and where the man at the center of it is now.
Smoke is inspired by the true story of arsonist John Orr
The events of Smoke are entirely fictional and take place in the present-day Pacific Northwest. However, the series was inspired by the true story of convicted arsonist John Leonard Orr and the fires he set in California while working at a local fire department.
Orr was born on April 26, 1949, and served in the Air Force before joining the Glendale Fire Department in 1974. He rose through the ranks as an arson investigator, developing an uncanny knack for finding incendiary devices at the scene of fires. According to the Los Angeles Times, he claimed to have caught more than 40 serial arsonists and became the media-friendly face of the Glendale department.
Orr investigated a particularly tragic blaze that occurred on October 10, 1984, when flames engulfed the Ole’s Home Center store at a South Pasadena shopping center. The fire spread quickly, killing employees Carolyn Kraus, 26, and Jimmy Cetina, 17, as well as shopper Ada Deal, 52, and her 2-year-old grandson, Matthew Troidl (later newspaper reports list Matthew’s age as 3 at the time of his death).
Although the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department ruled the fire an accident, likely caused by faulty electrical wiring, Orr insisted someone might have set it deliberately. However, no one could have imagined that Orr was actually the one responsible.
Orr’s manuscript implicated him in multiple fires
As more fires ignited by 1989, some coinciding with a pair of arson investigators conferences, Bakersfield fire captain Marvin Casey began to suspect one of the fire examiners was actually the arsonist at large. He compiled a list of 10 investigators who attended the two conferences, which included Orr, but the fire captain couldn’t identify a fingerprint found on an incendiary device used at one of the scenes. In 1991, another test confirmed the print was Orr’s, though it still wasn’t enough to prove he started the blazes.
Following Orr’s arrest in December 1991 related to additional fires, investigators found two key clues: a 104,000-word manuscript titled Points of Origin about a fictional arsonist named Aaron Stiles and a letter Orr sent to publishing companies hoping to sell his work.
The title references the term describing the exact physical location where a fire begins. “My novel, Points of Origin, is a fact-based work that follows the pattern of an actual arsonist who has been setting serial fires in California over the past eight years. He has not been identified or apprehended and probably will not be in the near future,” Orr’s letter read, according to the Firebug podcast.
Parts of the supposedly fictional novel were eerily similar to real-life incidents, including a fire at a hardware store that kills a woman and her toddler grandson. Prosecutors argued only Orr could’ve known such specific details related to multiple fires.
Less than a year later after his arrest, a jury found Orr guilty of setting three fires across Tulare and Bakersfield in January 1987, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Orr also pleaded guilty to three additional counts of arson in 1993 and was later tried and convicted in state court of four counts of first-degree murder for the Ole’s fire.
John Orr remains in prison today
Orr is now 76 years old. Although he escaped the death penalty, he’s serving the remainder of his life prison sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California. He told the Los Angeles Times he pleaded guilty to the arson charges to save his wife from bankruptcy (the couple is now divorced) and that he believes investigators framed him based on his book.
“Well, gee, it must be him, because this is a chronicle of his crimes. It just seemed to be too coincidental for them to ignore,” Orr said. He insists the Stiles character wasn’t based on his own life but an amalgamation of two or three serial arsonists he apprehended.
Orr has continued writing during his incarceration, contributing articles to the prison newspaper. As for Points of Origin, he stands by his work. “I’m not sorry that I wrote it,” he said.
Watch Smoke on Apple TV+ starting June 27
Smoke unfolds over nine episodes, the first two of which are now streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes will be released weekly. Here is the complete release schedule for Smoke:
- Episode 1, “Pilot”: Friday, June 27
- Episode 2, “Your Happy Makes Me Sad”: Friday, June 27
- Episode 3, “Weird Milk”: Friday, July 4
- Episode 4: Friday, July 11
- Episode 5: Friday, July 18
- Episode 6: Friday, July 25
- Episode 7: Friday, August 1
- Episode 8: Friday, August 8
- Episode 9: Friday, August 15
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
