Man accused of starting California’s Park Fire is charged with arson

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Man accused of starting California’s Park ***** is charged with arson

A man accused of starting what has become the sixth largest wildfire in California’s history appeared in court Monday as blazes continued to rage in the Western ******* States and Canada. Thousands have been forced to evacuate because of the fires. Here’s the latest.

• Man accused of igniting California’s Park ***** charged: Ronnie Dean Stout II has been charged with arson on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, a felony complaint filed Monday shows. A court document – similar to what authorities previously said – alleges in part that a witness saw him pushing a burning car down a 60-foot embankment. Stout is claiming he did not push the car, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said at a news conference. Stout didn’t enter a plea during a court appearance Monday, but he was denied bail, and his arraignment was continued to Thursday, Ramsey said. More charges could be added, he said.

• Park ***** climbs California’s record books: The Park ***** has become the sixth-largest wildfire in California history, torching more than 370,000 acres, or 578 square miles, 

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. “That occurred in only six days. This region, both Butte and Tehama, over the course of time in California, has had four of the largest 10 fires known in history,” Cal ***** Incident Commander Billy See told a news conference Monday. As of Monday evening, it was 12% contained and had destroyed 111 structures and damaged six others across two of the affected counties, he said. Cal ***** officials said aerial and ground crews had been successful in quelling flames and told media they were pleased with the progress being made. The blaze broke out last Wednesday.

• California resident once again loses home to *****: Standing in the charred ******** of his house, Butte County resident Rick Pero told CNN affiliate 

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

 the Park ***** was the second California wildfire to ******** his home. Pero and his wife moved to Forest Ranch after losing another property to 

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. This time, Pero and his wife had been away when they got an evacuation warning and had told their house sitter to pack the car and leave, he told KHSL. “We said don’t wait for the order stage, go ahead and load up. And, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get our shy cat out because it hides from people, so he got our other cat and loaded the car and was able to easily and successfully evacuate,” Pero said. He and his wife could still remain in Butte County, he said, but were also looking further afield. “It’s after two times, you know, live and learn,” he told KHSL. “This one was a ******* one because of losing our little cat.”

• More than 90 active wildfires in the US: Firefighters were dealing with 94 large active wildfires in the ******* States as of Monday – most of which were in the West, including 33 in Oregon and 12 in California, according to the 

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Together, the active fires covered more than 2 million acres.

The agency stressed the need to have firefighters and firefighting resources available in areas where there was a high likelihood of ***** breaking out due to the importance of an “initial *******” on new fires. “The vast majority of ***** starts are contained at small sizes within 24 hours of their discovery,” it said.

As the blazes continue, gusty winds could bring more ***** concerns and the heat is expected to build across the West throughout this week, becoming more substantial by Friday and lingering into next week. Temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above normal are expected across parts of the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Rockies, and daily high temperature records could be tied or broken, especially across the Pacific Northwest, over the weekend.

These fires have generated smoke that has drifted hundreds of miles and prompted air quality alerts across parts of Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. More alerts could be issued Tuesday.

• Alberta’s Jasper Wildfire Complex ******** ‘out of control’: In Canada, the Jasper Wildfire Complex is still burning in the largest national park in the ********* Rockies. The Jasper National Park remained closed to the public and under an evacuation warning, officials in Alberta said Monday afternoon. Around 17,000 people have evacuated, officials noted. “While the wildfire ******** classified as out of control, no significant growth has been reported as of this morning,” the municipality of Jasper 

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

 Monday afternoon, noting it is trying to plan bus tours for evacuated residents to see the damage once the area is deemed safe. The Jasper Wildfire Complex has scorched nearly 80,000 acres, Alberta Wildfire 

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

• Temperatures to rise this week amid Oregon wildfire: Oregon’s largest wildfire, the Durkee *****, was 49% contained Monday night after scorching nearly 290,000 acres, according to

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. It started July 17 near the Oregon-Idaho state line due to lightning, InciWeb states. Scattered showers from a cold front moved through the region Monday into early Tuesday, but no rainfall is expected the rest of the week and temperatures are expected to rise to triple digits by the weekend, which could impair firefighting efforts.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

A damaged visitor sign near the Durkee ***** in Oregon. – Matt Mills McKnight/Reuters

‘This didn’t have to happen,’ Butte County DA says

Stout, the suspect in California’s Park *****, has been charged with arson of an inhabited structure or property, with the aggravating factors of multiple structures burning and an allegation Stout violated California’s three-strikes felony law, the complaint says. In California, each conviction for a violent or serious felony is counted as a “strike,” and people receive significantly longer prison sentences if convicted of a third felony.

In a news conference Monday, Ramsey, the Butte County district attorney, detailed what he said were some of the events of July 24, the day the Park ***** began.

That afternoon, Stout pulled his car over on the side of a dirt road and his vehicle got stuck in tall grass, Ramsey said. When Stout revved his engine to try to get out, a ***** started, he said.

A witness saw Stout next to the ***** coming out of the front of his car, but said he did not try and stop it, according to a statement of facts arguing against bail for Stout. The witness saw Stout get in and out of the car, and then said he pushed the burning car down a 60-foot embankment, where the ***** exploded, the statement of facts says.

Stout is “admitting up to a point, but is saying he did not push his car,” Ramsey said.

Shortly before the incident, Stout was seen drinking at a nearby swimming ***** and witnesses said he “seemed to be highly intoxicated,” Ramsey said. Another witness said they saw him driving “extraordinarily recklessly” from the direction of the swimming ***** to where the ***** started, he continued.

“This didn’t have to happen,” Ramsey said.

When Stout was arrested early the next morning, almost 11 hours after the ***** started, alcohol was found in his system above the legal limit, Ramsey said, but noted investigators had no evidence proving he was intoxicated at the time of the *****.

CNN has reached out to Stout’s attorney for comment on the allegation he was ****** at the time of the incident and regarding Ramsey’s statement that he has partially admitted responsibility.

CNN’s Robert Shackelford and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Man #accused #starting #Californias #Park #***** #charged #arson

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

For verified travel tips and real support, visit: https://hopzone.eu/