The Esperanza Fire was a large, wind-driven, arson-caused wildfire that started on October 26, 2006, in a river wash near Cabazon, California, United States, west of Palm Springs.

Five firefighters died defending a vacant house locally known as the "Octagon" that was ultimately destroyed by the fire: Jason McKay, Jess McLean, Daniel Kurtis Najera, Mark Loutzenhiser and Pablo Cerda.

The fire caused the deaths of five firefighters, destroyed 34 houses and 20 outbuildings, and damaged the pavement of State Route 243.

The surviving two firefighters were transferred to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where Loutzenhiser succumbed to his injuries shortly after arriving.

The Riverside County Sheriff Department's Central Homicide Unit arrested Raymond Lee Oyler, a mechanic from Beaumont, on October 31, 2006, for setting two wildfires in the summer of 2006.

Inside his car, authorities found a wig, latex gloves, cigarettes, black spray paint, and a partially burned slingshot that was used to launch incendiary devices into the brush.

"[4] The Riverside County Sheriff's Department announced on November 2, 2006, that Oyler also was charged for his involvement with the Esperanza Fire.

After a week of deliberation, a Riverside jury on March 6, 2009, found Oyler guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of the five firefighters in the Esperanza fire.

On May 9, 2007, Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco said that he planned to seek the death penalty against Oyler.