Authorities have arrested a man in connection with a wildfire that devastated portions of a northern California town.
After weeks of investigation, police arrested Ronald Beau Marshall Saturday and charged him with felony counts of arson to inhabited structures, property and forest land. (video via KUSI)
The Boles fire started on september 15 and spread quickly across the northern California town of Weed, fanned by 40mph winds.
“Last month, the fire swept through a 500 acre residential area of Weed, burning 157 homes and eight commercial structures.” (Video via KFSN)
“This is the biggest neighborhood in Weed. We are just off of Oak Street. it’s an eerie example of what we saw over and over again today.” (Video via NBC)
And this incident just adds to what has been a very busy year for California firefighters. More than 5,000 fires have scorched some 90,000 acres of land in the state since the beginning of the year, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The King fire alone consumed more than 80,000 acres — and burned for nearly a month before firefighters announced full containment last week. (Video via KOVR)
This, as California continues under the worst drought the state has seen in 119 years of record-keeping. They’re prime conditions for wildfires — which meteorologists say aren’t easy to escape.
“To break the drought, most of the state needs 9 - 15" of precipitation to fall in one month. This amounts to more than a half-year's worth of precipitation for most of the state.”
The Boles Fire was fully contained as of Sunday. Marshall is currently being held on $250,000 bail.
This video includes images from Getty Images.
