RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The fiancee and cousin of a man accused of setting a wildfire that killed five firefighters testified Tuesday that the suspect had boasted about lighting earlier fires.

Crystal Breazile, however, denied that her fiance, Raymond Lee Oyler, set the blaze that claimed the firefighters' lives last fall.

Oyler, a 36-year-old auto mechanic, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of use of an incendiary device and 23 counts of arson, including the deadly Esperanza Fire. Prosecutors allege he set 23 separate blazes in an area about 80 miles east of Los Angeles between May 16 and Oct. 26, 2006.

Breazile was called as a hostile witness by prosecutors during a two-day preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.

Breazile, who has a young daughter with Oyler, testified that she and the suspect were watching televised reports of an arson wildfire when he told her that he had started the blaze. She threatened to leave him if he didn't stop setting fires, she said.

"We were in an argument and I was going on and on about something and he sometimes does things to get a reaction out of me," Breazile said, holding back tears. "He said, 'Yeah, I did that, too."'

Breazile also testified that Oyler told her he used "a cigarette and matches" to start the fire in Moreno Valley. Oyler is charged with starting the fire, which occurred May 31, according to the complaint.

Breazile also testified that Oyler suggested setting a fire "on the mountain" to get his pit bull out of the Banning Animal Shelter, where it had been impounded for attacking someone. She said he never set the fire, however, because the dog was released Oct. 25, a day before the deadly blaze began.

"You admit as you sit here now that the defendant brought up setting a fire as one among many ideas?" said Deputy District Attorney Michael Hestrin.

"Yes, but it didn't happen," Breazile replied. "We got the dogs before any of this ever took place."

Another witness, Oyler's second cousin Jill Frame, testified that the suspect told her he spent the night of Oct. 21 casing the mountain for a good spot to set a fire.

He also said he had set "some small fires" around the Banning area on Oct. 22, a few days before the deadly blaze, to try to create a diversion so he could get his pit bull out of the pound, Frame said.

"I went to his house … and I was sitting in the living room and Raymond asked me if I heard anything on the police scanner about fires," Frame said. "I said, 'No, I don't listen to the police scanner like that.' I guess he didn't hear me and he said that he started some fires earlier that day in Banning."

Breazile and Frame both testified that Oyler owned the "Anarchist Cookbook." Prosecutors have said that the book contains instructions on making devices to start fires.

Prosecutors allege that Oyler set the fires in the Banning Pass area using several variations of devices made of wooden stick matches and Marlboro cigarettes.

The deadly fire was ignited amid fierce Santa Ana winds and eventually charred more than 60 square miles, or 40,000 acres. Oyler was arrested Oct. 31, days after the fire began.