A father and his son were arrested on Wednesday accused of having intentionally caused the Caldor fire, one of the largest of the season in California, United States. David Scott Smith, 66, and Travis Shane Smith, 32, have not yet been charged with any crime, but they were under an arrest warrant, the El Dorado County prosecutor’s office reported this afternoon in a statement. El Caldor started in mid-August and took hundreds of firefighters over two months to contain it to 100%. In this time, it destroyed some 89,000 hectares northeast of San Francisco, near the border with the State of Nevada.
“The two men are charged with violating section 452 of the California penal code, which commonly refers to setting arson,” said the district attorney’s statement released this afternoon. The Smiths’ actions, authorities add, caused the destruction of “uninhabited properties” and caused bodily injury to “multiple victims.” According to the California Fire report, the conflagration destroyed 1,000 structures, damaged 81 others between homes and shops and injured five people, including firefighters and civilians.
The detainees’ lawyer assured the newspaper The Sacramento Bee that the men are innocent and that they even called 911, the emergency line, to warn of the start of the conflagration. A judge has set bail for both of them at a million dollars, who will know in the next 48 hours the crimes for which they are accused.
El Caldor caused no deaths in the 67 days it was active, according to the California Fire, the state agency tasked with coordinating efforts to fight major fires. This same institution estimates that 10% of the claims it fights each year are initiated on purpose. This crime grew 6% in 2019, when incidents went from 301 in 2018 to 320. In recent months, three people suspected of causing fires have been arrested in the State. They have caused similar damage despite such varied profiles among arsonists. One of them was a criminologist. Another a self-proclaimed shaman and yoga teacher.
The fire seriously threatened Lake Tahoe, one of the major resorts in the California Sierra Nevada. The speed with which it was moving in late August forced authorities in El Dorado, Amador and Alpine counties to evacuate thousands of residents. More than 22,000 residents of southern Tahoe flooded the roads while fleeing the conflagration. This was the worst threat to the city in 15 years, since another fire that lasted just a week destroyed 250 homes and businesses. El Caldor also put Nevada authorities on guard. “This is serious, friends,” said State Governor Steve Sisolak as ash from the incident 32 kilometers away fell on his jacket.
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