By the way, here is the Cherokee and Thompson Flat roads intersection (google maps 2023 photo):
"Testing" a firework there is testing... to see if it starts conflagration!
Posted on 08/27/2024 8:13:32 PM PDT by Right Wing Vegan
OROVILLE, Calif. — A 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of starting a massive Northern California wildfire in July that destroyed 26 homes and businesses and prompted the evacuation of nearly 30,000 people, officials said.
Spencer Grant Anderson of Oroville, California, was arraigned on Monday on charges of arson of an inhabited structure, arson of forest land and arson causing multiple structures to burn, according to the Butte County District Attorney's Office.
Anderson was ordered to return to court on Wednesday after he has a chance to speak to his court-appointed attorney, prosecutors said.
"It was a long-term investigation. There are a lot of moving parts. Right now it's an accusation and everybody has a right to a trial," Anderson's attorney, Larry Pilgrim, told ABC News on Tuesday as he waited at the Butte County Jail to speak to his client for the first time.
Pilgrim said he plans to ask for a continuance in the case to allow him to review the evidence. He said Anderson will enter a plea at a later date.
Investigators from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) identified Anderson as a possible suspect a day after the Thompson Fire ignited near the town of Oroville on July 2, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said at a news conference on Monday.
"For 50 days, Cal Fire devoted four to six investigators per day, brought in from around the state, to continuously watch Anderson as other investigators meticulously built the case," Ramsey said. "If Anderson had chosen to light another fire, we were confident the surveillance personnel would be able to detect and stop the fire before it could get out of control."
Anderson was taken into custody on Aug. 22 when Cal Fire investigators executed search warrants and "located evidence further implicating Anderson in starting the Thompson fire," prosecutors said in a statement without elaborating on the evidence.
Ramsey said that on the day the fire was ignited, Cal Fire investigators pinpointed the area where the fire started near the intersection of Cherokee and Thompson Flat roads in a rural area northeast of Oroville and quickly determined the "fire was caused by an intentional human act."
"Arson by its very terms is a very difficult crime to solve because it burns up the evidence," Ramsey said, praising the work of investigators on the case.
Ramsey said several 911 callers and witnesses in the area at the time the fire started reported seeing a blue Toyota driving in the area and investigators determined the fire was most likely started by a flaming object thrown from the Toyota as it drove southbound on Cherokee Road.
Using automatic license plate readers in the area, investigators were able to identify the Toyota and trace it to Anderson, Ramsey said.
"Anderson was arrested and questioned. He admitted that on the morning of the fire, he purchased fireworks from a firework stand in Oroville, then went up to Cherokee Road to 'test one' by throwing it out his car window," prosecutors said in the statement.
In addition to destroying 26 structures, including 13 homes, the Thompson Fire damaged eight structures and burned 3,789 acres before it was fully contained on July 8, according to Cal Fire. Two firefighters were injured battling the blaze, Cal Fire said.
If convicted of the charges, Anderson faces a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison, according to prosecutors. Anderson has been ordered to be held without bail at the Butte County Jail.
The Thompson Fire was the second wildfire deliberately set in Butte County in July. On July 24, the Park Fire was deliberately started in Bidwell Park near Chico and spread to more than 429,000 acres across Butte, Tehama, Shasta and Plumas counties.
Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, was arrested on a felony count of arson of an inhabited structure or property, according to the Butte County District Attorney's Office. Stout has pleaded not guilty.
Stout was allegedly spotted pushing a car that was on fire down a gully called "Alligator Hole" in Bidwell Park, igniting the Park Fire, now the fourth largest wildfire in California history, according to prosecutors.
And all the foreign born nuts they’re letting in? It gets really hot in the summer up there. The whole town of Paradise is gone.
RE: the second wildfire deliberately set
One of the big fires ruled accidental a few years ago caused Michael Savage to say the pattern of it being accidental or caused by natural forces didn’t fit.
He said there were several ribbon like rows of independent fires with spaces between that later joined as “the fire.” He was convinced it was Muslim terrorists who had been upping their threats for weeks just before it started.
Wonder about that.
By the way, here is the Cherokee and Thompson Flat roads intersection (google maps 2023 photo):
"Testing" a firework there is testing... to see if it starts conflagration!
Meanwhile, the Park Fire, started by another piece of human garbage on July 24, continues to burn. 89% contained, 429,000 acres, seventy square miles, more or less. Honestly, if the penalty was burning at the stake, I’d cheerfully volunteer to light the kindling
Oh, no doubt. I’d bring a torch in a Smokey Bear costume at this point.
Globull Cooling, Globull Warming, Climate Change, Climate Crisis are the real culprits. Only if the world is burning can the Hoax continue.
Spencer Grant Anderson
Isn’t it WEIRD, to use the lefts favorite phrase, how so man of these fires are stated as arson and not eeeeevil SUVs.
Antifa
Incidentally, Ramsey is an outstanding D.A. The County Sheriff, Kory Honea, is flat-out incredible. Butte County is very, very fortunate to have these men.
Actually===fire is 671.26 Square Miles.
Many police departments and DAs are doing an outstanding job. However, I would be for making wildfire arson always federal, based on the extensiveness of the air pollution.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.