2 arrested after Northern California investigators determine arson sparked separate forest fires
A Nevada man who allegedly sparked a fire near a Sierra County reservoir early Sunday while under the influence is one of two men recently arrested on suspicion of arson in Northern California forestland.
Sierra County Sheriff’s officials say the 58-year-old Reno resident was taken to a Truckee hospital to be medically cleared before his transfer to Nevada County Jail on suspicion of arson.
Cal Fire officials first spotted what they described as a “significant blaze” about 3:25 a.m. Sunday burning near Stampede Reservoir, about 115 miles northeast of Sacramento. The fire was burning in thick brush and timber on Merrill Peak north of the reservoir, and Sierra County and U.S. Forest Service firefighters along with Sierra County deputies headed to the scene. Firefighters contained the blaze to 2 acres.
Firefighters were the first to spot the man later identified as the suspect. Deputies said the man “showed signs of being under the influence of a controlled substance, including hallucinations.”
Authorities interviewed him at the scene and he was subsequently taken into custody.
Elsewhere, Cal Fire investigators on Friday arrested a convicted arsonist on felony arson charges connected to two recent fires that burned in Lake County.
The 41-year-old Clearlake resident, who previously received a 17-year sentence for arson after a 2004 arrest by Cal Fire investigators, is tied to a Sept. 22 fire near Lower Lake on Seigler Canyon Road; and a second, days later on Oct. 2, in Clearlake Oaks off New Long Valley Road. The man faces two charges each of arson of a structure or forest land; and arson during a state of emergency.
The fires burned less than an acre combined, Cal Fire officials said.
This story was originally published October 7, 2024 at 10:09 AM with the headline "2 arrested after Northern California investigators determine arson sparked separate forest fires."
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