They said a homeowner in the hills of Cobb admitted he tried to install the wiring for that hot tub himself. He even confessed it wasn’t working quite right. An additional person is missing and presumed dead, but no body has been found, officials said.
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But after an 11-month investigation, those rumors proved to be false.
A hot tub’s faulty wiring ignited one of California’s most destructive wildfires, a blaze that killed four people, sent four firefighters to the hospital and destroyed more than 1,300 homes a year ago, officials said Wednesday.
Investigators say evidence was uncovered that showed a residential electrical connection arced and ignited some dry grass nearby, according to Cal Fire. A hot tub’s faulty wiring ignited one of California’s most destructive wildfires, a blaze that killed four people, sent four firefighters to the hospital and destroyed more than 1,300 homes previous year, officials said Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. “It’s painful, and it’s hard”, Pimlott said.
Four firefighters were injured and more than $56m (£43m) was spent getting the fire under control. But causing a fire, no matter how devastating, is not automatically a crime.
Investigators said it took almost a year to identify the cause of the Valley Fire because they wanted to make sure they got it right.
The Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson said he is considering filing criminal charges.
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The fire started on September 12, 2015 and burned over 76,000 acres across Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties. Cal Fire says firefighting efforts cost $57 million.
