Cal Fire law enforcement has made 72 arrests for arson in 2020. Cal Fire announced this shocking revelation in their Statewide Fire Summary on October 6, 2020. This comes with the 2020 record fire season with over 8,300 wildfires that have burned well over 4 million acres in California.
Arson is defined as “a criminal act, arson is a malicious attempt to cause harm by setting a fire.”
The Creek Fire brought both Governor Newsom and VP Candidate Senator Harris to the region in September as they blamed Climate Change for the cause of California’s recent disaster. They made no mention of the impacts of arsonists.
Cal Fire noted that 95% of all wildfires in California are started by human activity. This could be campfires, illegal burns, improperly maintained vehicles, and arson.
Both the Creek Fire and the Sequoia Complex fire continue to burn in our region.
Creek Fire, Fresno County (more info…)
Northeast of Shaver Lake (Sierra National Forest)
*326,706 acres, 49% contained
*Evacuations in place
*Heavy tree mortality in the area
*852 structures destroyed
*CAL FIRE Incident Management Team 1 in unified command with USFS Great Basin Team 1.
SQF Complex, Tulare County (more info…)
3 miles east of Giant Sequoia National Monument
*158,945 acres, 65% contained
*Evacuations in place
*232 structures destroyed
*CAL FIRE Incident Management Team 6 in unified command with USFS Team 2.
If you have any information about an arson fire, you are encouraged to call the hotline at 1-800-468-4408. Callers will remain anonymous. To learn more about preventing wildfires, visit www.ReadyForWildfire.org.
Courtesy of Cal Fire https://www.fire.ca.gov/daily-wildfire-report/
Photo Courtesy of Clovis Fire Department in the Creek Fire
