Share
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A 71-year-old man was arrested Friday on suspicion of starting a forest fire that destroyed more than 100 homes last year near Yosemite, fire authorities said.
Edward Fredrick Wackerman, of Mariposa, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated arson, arson that causes great bodily injury and arson causing damage or destruction of inhabited structures, Cal Fire officials said in a statement.
It didn’t provide details of what led to the arrest. No charges have been filed.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Wackerman had an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Wackerman is suspected of starting the Oak Fire in Mariposa County in July 2022.
The fire injured three firefighters, burned 30 square miles of land and destroyed 127 homes and 66 outbuildings, Cal Fire said.
At its height, some 6,000 people were told to flee their homes after the blaze erupted near the community of Midpines.
The fire was one of several devastating blazes that swept through Northern California and other states last year.
The Mill Fire in Siskyou County that began in September 2022 caused two deaths and damaged or destroyed nearly 150 buildings.
On Friday, Cal Fire said investigators determined the Mill Fire was caused by operations at a wood products mill in Weed, California, near the California-Oregon border.
Roseburg Forest Products, of Springfield, Oregon, owner of the wood veneers manufacturing plant, announced last year it had reached a settlement agreement with more than 700 people who filed wrongful death, personal injury and property loss claims.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The company previously said it was investigating whether the fire was caused by the possible failure of a water-spraying machine used to cool ash at the mill.
California has experienced increasingly larger and deadlier wildfires in recent years as climate change has made the West much warmer and drier over the past 30 years. Scientists have said weather will continue to be more extreme and wildfires more frequent, destructive and unpredictable.
RELATED TOPICS:
Fresno Man Pleads Guilty in $30 Million Fraud Scheme
15 hours ago
Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to Prison Sentence for Mexican National in Fentanyl Case
15 hours ago
Statue of Confederate General Albert Pike to Be Reinstalled in Washington
16 hours ago
Record Number of Senate Democrats Vote to Block Israel Weapons Sales
16 hours ago
Fresno County House Fire Displaces Two Adults and Injures Dog
17 hours ago
Should Lyft and Uber Charge More if Your Phone Battery Is Low? California May Ban That
18 hours ago
US Government Restricts Sports Visas for Transgender Women
18 hours ago
Tulare County Inmate Dies After Collapsing at Jail
19 hours ago
Fresno Police Investigating Fatal Shooting of 70-Year-Old Man
19 hours ago
Israel to Decide Next Steps in Gaza After Ceasefire Talks Collapse
19 hours ago
House Democrats Renew Effort Calling for Palestinian Statehood
14 hours ago
Categories

House Democrats Renew Effort Calling for Palestinian Statehood

US DOJ to Open Grand Jury Probe Into Obama Officials, Source Says

Fresno Man Pleads Guilty in $30 Million Fraud Scheme

Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to Prison Sentence for Mexican National in Fentanyl Case

Statue of Confederate General Albert Pike to Be Reinstalled in Washington

Record Number of Senate Democrats Vote to Block Israel Weapons Sales

Fresno County House Fire Displaces Two Adults and Injures Dog
