Cal Fire authorities said Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, of Clearlake, Calif., has been charged with 17 counts of arson in Lake County, including the 4,000-acre Clayton fire.
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On Monday, Cal Fire law enforcement officers arrested Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, of Clearlake on 17 counts of arson for fires he started over the a year ago, according to Cal Fire.
San Bernardino County Fire Department spokeswoman Tracey Martinez said the fire was reported Tuesday in a sparsely populated area.
A fast-moving Northern California wildfire has destroyed more than 175 structures and forced thousands to flee an area where drought conditions and high temperatures are making firefighting hard. “My thoughts continue to be with the people of Lake County during this hard time”.
The fire in Lake County is one of nine major wildfires being fought in California.
The organization was raising money to help rebuild homes in nearby communities torched a year ago.
The fire reached Main Street in Lower Lake, a town of about 1,200 about 90 miles north of San Francisco, on Sunday and burned the post office, a winery, a Habitat for Humanity office and several businesses as thick, black smoke loomed over the small downtown strip.
Pimlott told KCRA that officials have spent more than $5 million fighting the Clayton Fire, which began Saturday evening along Clayton Creek Road outside of Sacramento.
“Just the fact alone that it was such a surprise means they have done the right thing in keeping the investigation close to their chest, not sharing the information, which allowed and increases for this to be a case of integrity”, Cal Fire spokesperson Lt. Doug Pittman said.
Damin Pashilk, man accused of starting Clayton Fire. At least 175 buildings have been destroyed, including many homes.
Roughly 1,600 firefighters were making progress on the blaze as it burned through wilderness. Pashilk was born in San Francisco and works in construction, according to his booking sheet on the Lake County Sheriff’s Office website.
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In places, only brick chimneys marked where homes had once stood. Here and there, amid the burned blocks, whole homes still stand. Officials said at least 1,500 other structures are threatened. Lawns in front of Lower Lake’s modest, one-story homes are brown, matching the wildland grasses on the mountains outside town. They also rushed up Highway 29, with light and sirens, from Lower Lake where many firefighters have been working to stamp out smoldering spots in the fire’s ruins. It killed four people, left a fifth missing and destroyed more than 1,300 homes in nearby communities. It holds sentimental value to them too because the 3-bedroom place was big enough to allow them to previous year adopt their three daughters.
