Suspect allegedly started growing California wildfire

PLACERVILLE, Calif. -- A man has been charged with starting a Northern California wildfire that has shown explosive growth and driven nearly 2,800 people from their homes, authorities said Thursday.

Wayne Allen Huntsman, 37, was arrested late Wednesday in Placerville and booked into El Dorado County Jail, where he was held on $10 million bail.

Huntsman faces a forest-land arson charge, with a special allegation of arson with aggravating factors because the blaze east of Sacramento, California, put a dozen firefighters in danger, forcing them to deploy their fire shields. They escaped unharmed.

By Thursday morning, the fire had burned through 111 square miles as winds surged to 25 mph and more than doubled in size overnight, according to Cal Fire. It was 5 percent contained.

District Attorney Vern Pierson declined to say what led investigators to Huntsman, who was scheduled to be arraigned today. He would not comment on a motive in the case,

Smoke rises from a burning tree as a firefighter puts water on flames approaching a containment line while fighting the King fire Thursday near Fresh Pond, California. (Rich Pedroncelli ~ Associated Press)

Huntsman's sister, Tami Criswell, said she doubts her brother started the fire, but if he did, it wasn't on purpose. He works odd jobs in construction and security, she said.

"He's a really good guy," Criswell said. "He would never do anything intentionally to hurt anybody."

In 1997, Huntsman was convicted in Santa Cruz of three felonies, including assault with a deadly weapon and car theft, according to the complaint. In 2003, he was convicted in Plumas County of receiving stolen property.

The blaze, which started Saturday, has been fueled by heavy timber and grass that is extremely dry because of California's third straight year of drought. It is costing $5 million a day to fight, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials said.

"It is extreme fire behavior," said Michelle Eidam, a captain with the Sacramento fire department who was helping with the blaze. "All bets are off right now because this fire is so volatile."

Many of the 12,000 threatened homes were in Pollock Pines, 60 miles east of Sacramento. Though the fire grew substantially late Wednesday and into the night, it burned mostly into wilderness land in the El Dorado National Forest away from the town, according to Cal Fire.

Crews focused Thursday on clearing brush and building containment lines near threatened communities as they braced for more erratic winds.

Fire officials said there were no reports of damaged or destroyed homes. Still, residents at an evacuation center said they were worried.

"We've been doing a lot of praying," said Sally Dykstra, who lives in a home in the middle of the fire area with her husband, Garry, 74, and her daughter, Stacie, 46.

Another resident, Alison Abels, 58, left her home voluntarily Monday and said her thoughts were with firefighters on the front lines.

"I'm on the verge of possibly losing everything, but they are only things. Buildings are property, but people are out there fighting to protect our property and to contain it," she said.

The blaze was burning about 10 miles from the Desolation Wilderness, a popular hiking area south of Lake Tahoe.

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency late Wednesday, freeing up funds for the two fires. He also secured federal grants to fight each of them.

Meanwhile, farther north in the town of Weed, officials released the final results of their damage assessment from a blaze that tore through the community Monday. City administrator Ron Stock said 143 homes and nine other buildings, including churches, were destroyed.

Officials previously said 110 homes were destroyed and 90 others were damaged.

Stock said he hopes the state will declare the burned debris hazardous waste to speed its removal and defray costs. The state would cover 75 percent of the cost and the city 25 percent if the debris receives that designation.

Residents were expected to be allowed to return to the burned areas once utility crews finished restoring power, water and telephone service.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation. The fire burned 375 acres, and more of half of it was contained.

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Thanawala reported from San Francisco. Scott Smith in Fresno, Calif., Judith Ausuebel in New York and Jeff Barnard in Grants Pass, Ore., contributed to this report.