Man accused of starting destructive Thompson Fire in Butte County arraigned on arson charges
BUTTE COUNTY – The Oroville man suspected of starting the Thompson Fire in Butte County was officially arraigned on arson charges, officials said Monday.
Spencer Anderson, 26, was charged with arson of an inhabited structure, arson of forest land, and arson causing multiple structures to burn, the Butte County District Attorney's Office announced.
The Thompson Fire ignited near Cherokee Road on July 2 and went on to destroy over a dozen homes in the Oroville area of Butte County. It burned nearly 3,800 acres and forced around 17,000 people from their homes.
Anderson admitted to purchasing fireworks from an Oroville fireworks stand and driving up to Cherokee Road and throwing a lit firework out of his vehicle, prosecutors said.
Cal Fire said its law enforcement officers determined within the first 24 hours that the fire was caused by arson and they identified Anderson as a suspect. The officers then monitored the suspect while they finalized the case.
Anderson is also alleged to have a previous domestic-violence-related felony strike that could double his sentence, the district attorney's office said. He faces up to 21 years in prison if convicted.
Harold Pulley, a 61-year-old Oroville man, was arrested a few days after the fire started for setting a backfire hours after the fire started. He was accused of using a propane torch to burn around a quarter of an acre in a high-risk area.
The fire also caused the Hyatt Powerplant to go offline and Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency.
Park Fire
A man accused of starting California's fourth-largest wildfire, the Park Fire, pleaded not guilty to a charge of arson, Butte County prosecutors said on Thursday.
Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico, was arrested on July 25, the day after the fire started in Chico's Upper Bidwell Park.
The fire went on to burn around 430,000 acres across Butte and Tehama counties. It destroyed 637 structures.