At least one person has died in a wildfire burning in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range that officials believed was sparked by a man using a chainsaw.
Police arrested Herbert Wayne Smith, 65, in connection with the Gann fire, which has destroyed seven buildings, scorched more than 15 sq miles in Calaveras county and killed a well-known dog breeder in the town of Angels Camp.
In an interview with KCRA, Smith told reporters he did not mean to spark the fire. Monday was his birthday, he said, and he had been using machinery to cut scraps in order collect money for a celebratory meal with his wife.
“I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened,” Smith told the news station. “This is going to destroy my life, one way or another.”
Officials allege that Smith is responsible for “recklessly causing” the blaze on Monday while “operating equipment capable of producing sparks” without clearing flammable vegetation as required, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection. Prosecutors will determine whether to file criminal charges.
In 2018, Smith was charged with igniting another fire, KCRA reported, and was accused of “willfully and unlawfully [setting] fire to any forest, brush, or other flammable material which is on any land that is not his own, or under his legal control, without the permission of the owner, lessee, or agent of the owner or lessee of the land”. He pleaded no contest and received a sentence of 36 months’ probation.
As of Friday morning, the Gann fire had burned more than 10,000 acres and was about 40% contained.
Investigators will determine whether the fire contributed to the death of the person found in a burned home near the town of Angels Camp, the Calaveras county sheriff’s office said. Friends have identified the victim as Susan Solari and a neighbor told CBS Sacramento that she refused to leave her dogs.
“I told them she was there, that her dogs were there and she couldn’t get her dogs out,” Joan Wilson told the outlet. “She wasn’t going to leave them.”
The Gann fire comes amid a grueling fire season in the American west. Three major fires have continued to burn around the city of Spokane in north-eastern Washington and have destroyed at least 800 buildings. A 37-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly sparking one of the fires, and court documents accuse him of studying how to maximize the blaze’s destruction.
No deaths have been reported in Washington. Officials reported on Thursday that cooler temperatures and calmer winds have allowed firefighters to make progress.
Associated Press contributed reporting
