Los Angeles - A 38-year-old man who set deadly wildfires in California was convicted Friday in the murder of five people in the October 2006 Palm Springs fire, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Raymond Lee Oyler, who was found guilty by a jury that deliberated for a week, faces the death penalty in the conviction. Sentencing will be decided at a later date.

The five dead were firefighters who were overcome by fast moving flames in the worst single wildfire casualty for firefighters since 14 were killed battling a Colorado blaze in 1994.

The fire, fuelled by hot desert gusts called the Santa Ana winds, burned more than 16,000 hectares before the winds died down. About 34 homes in the sparsely populated area, called Esparanza, were burned and mandatory evacuation orders were issued to some 700 people.

A total of 3,000 firefighters came out to bring the flames under control.