Criminal proceedings against the Dolan Fire suspect are halted as his mental state is evaluated.

The criminal case against the man accused of starting the Dolan Fire in Big Sur has been suspended as officials try to determine if the suspect is mentally competent to stand trial.

At what was to be a routine procedural hearing on Sept. 9, Deputy Public Defender Michael Belter expressed doubt about the mental state of his client, Fresno resident Ivan Geronimo Gomez, and asked that Gomez receive a referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist for an evaluation. Monterey County Superior Court Judge Pam Butler agreed to the request and, under the state penal code, suspended the criminal proceedings until Gomez receives that evaluation.

If Gomez is found incompetent to stand trial, he could be sent to a state hospital or participate in a jail-based program in an effort to restore him to competency.

“The court will evaluate whether he was competent at the time of the event. Then it comes back to court and we have an opportunity to agree with the findings, or find our own doctor to evaluate him,” District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni says. “But for now we have to wait.”

The event Pacioni refers to happened the night of Aug. 18, when a fire started near John Little State Natural Reserve in Big Sur. A volunteer firefighter was driving across the Lime Creek bridge when they saw a shirtless man standing on a berm beside the road.

The man, later identified as Gomez, threw a rock at the firefighter’s vehicle, puncturing the side panel. The firefighter alerted a group of California State Parks rangers nearby; the rangers found Gomez still standing on the berm.

While he was being detained, Gomez made a startling statement to the rangers: He claimed there were five homicide victims in the forest where the fire started. So far, no bodies have been found and Sheriff’s Department spokesperson John Thornburg says detectives are trying to determine whether Gomez’s claims are true.

At the time of his arrest, sheriff’s detectives charged 30-year-old Gomez with the rock-throwing incident, arson of forestland, exhibiting a non-firearm deadly weapon, battery and illegally growing cannabis. In court, though, Gomez is only charged with the arson and the rock throwing.

The Dolan Fire continues its fierce march through the Los Padres National Forest and beyond, having burned through 122,178 acres in the month since it started, fueled by dry timber, brush and chaparral. As of Sept. 13, firefighters had it 40-percent contained; on Sept. 8, 14 firefighters were forced to deploy emergency shelters as the flames overwhelmed the Nacimiento Station. Three of those firefighters were injured and airlifted to a hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation; one remained hospitalized as of Sept. 14.

Currently, the U.S. Forest Service lists the cause of the Dolan Fire as “unknown,” but an incident spokesperson says that’s because officials are unsure if it was deliberately or accidentally set.

Public Defender Sue Chapman declined to comment and Belter, Gomez’s attorney, did not return a call requesting comment.

Gomez is scheduled to next appear in court at 8:45am, Sept. 23 for a competency hearing.