“I can’t release if there were multiple ignitions of a single fire, but it is safe to say he is responsible for starting several fires here in Lake County over the a year ago or two”, said Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin.
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Burned residences are seen in a fire-ravaged neighbourhood after the Clayton Fire burned through Lower Lake.
Pashilk has not been implicated in any of the three huge blazes that destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Lake County last summer.
Less than 10 hours after igniting, a Southern California wildfire, burning uncontrollably, has engulfed 15,000 acres.
The blaze erupted as crews battled another major fire in Northern California, where the Clayton fire had ripped through 4,000 acres in Lake County, almost obliterating entire neighborhoods and causing thousands to flee.
A raging wildfire tore through San Bernardino County, Calif., forcing more than 82,000 people to evacuate, fire officials said. By nightfall, it had churned up and over ridges and was descending into the Mojave Desert. The area is about 70 miles east of Los Angeles and less than 30 miles north of the city of San Bernardino.
“I can confirm that we’ve lost structures, both residential and commercial”, Sherwin said at the scene of a hard-hit cluster of ranches. “I’m looking up here and I’m seeing buses, I’m seeing outbuildings, I’m seeing houses”.
Sherwin says some structures have already burned, but it hasn’t yet been determined whether any of them were homes.
Sheriff’s deputies scrambled to enforce mandatory evacuation orders for rural communities in Baldy Mesa, Lytle Creek, Wrightwood, Old Cajon Road, Lone Pine Canyon, West Cajon Valley and Swarthout Canyon.
Officials blame the drought, which has left brush dangerously dry, for helping fuel the fires, which have stretched from Lake County in Northern California to the border region in San Diego County.
Authorities are concerned because the heat, wind and low humidity, combined with the severe drought that California is suffering for years, complicate the work of firefighters.
Pashilk is suspected of sparking the massive Clayton Fire, which as of Tuesday, had scorched 4,000 acres, burned at least 175 structures, and is threatening almost 1,500 more in Clearlake, Calif. Interstate 15 is the main highway to Las Vegas.
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Ranch hands used hoses to wet down fences and anything else that could burn.
“We are all devastated to have so much destruction”, Melissa Fulton, chief executive officer of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, told the Sacramento Bee.
“We do have a train that is close to the fire that is in the process of safely being moved away from the area”, she said. The firefighters were able to shelter in place, but two suffered minor injuries.
California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County for the Bluecut Fire, which allows state agencies to come to the assistance of local officials.
The authorities announced on Tuesday that Damin Pashilk, 40, was facing 17 counts of arson and was suspected of involvement in numerous other fires in the Lake County area over the past year.
When serving five years for drugs and firearms charges, the state trained him as an inmate firefighter. But because of climate change in the last five to 10 years, regional wildfire seasons now often overlap.
A man has been charged in connection with a number of California wildfires, including the Clayton fire in northern California, where more than 175 buildings have been destroyed over the past few days.
The Red Cross set up evacuation centers at the Jessie Turner Community Center, 15556 Summit Ave.in Fontana, and at Sultana High School, 17311 Sultana in Hesperia.
“A lot of people want to hang him high”, his wife, Jennie, added.
An attorney listed as representing Pashilk did not return a call requesting comment. He will appear in court on Wednesday.
Roughly 1,600 firefighters were making progress on the blaze as it burned through wilderness. It was 34 percent contained.
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Thanawala reported from Lakeport.
