The Butte County District Attorney's Office said a 42-year-old Chico man has been charged with starting a park fire. [emphasis, links added]
Ronnie Dean Stout II was found pushing his mother's burning car into the Upper Bidwell Park Alligator Hole shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday. in a nearby ravine and was later arrested.
The park fire broke out around the same time.
Fresno police discovered the decomposed body of a man in a shed near Nicholas and Florence on Thursday.
Police responded Thursday morning after a neighbor said they found a human skull. No foul play is suspected at this time. @ABC30 pic.twitter.com/A8pLxkF8zE— Jessica Harrington (@JessicaABC30) July 26, 2024
A photo released by the district attorney's office showed a car and nearby vegetation that was mostly scorched.
How does this fire compare to previous years?
The Park Fire has become California's largest wildfire since the Dixie Fire started in July 2021, burning more than 963,000 acres.
The largest fire in the state in 2023 was the Smith River Complex Fire in Del Norte. The fire spread to 95,107 acres.
In 2022, the largest fire in the state was the Mosquito Fire, which spread across 76,788 acres.
The total area burned by fires in 2023 was 324,917 acres, compared to 331,358 acres in 2022.
Read the full article at KCRA
