It burned more than 221,000 acres as it traveled more than 40 miles toward Tahoe. 14 start near Pollock Pines, midway between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Reichel said Travis Smith repeatedly called 911, calling back when the call dropped due to poor service. "They are 100% innocent of the charges," said Reichel, adding that the district attorney is expected to file charges shortly. Wildfire season the US: Up to 19% of the world's 'irreplaceable' giant sequoias lost to fire in about a year, study finds 'We're getting close': Lake Tahoe evacuees hope to return home as Caldor Fire slows Reichel said he is unaware of what evidence investigators believe links his clients to the start of the fire, but maintained they "definitely were not intentionally setting a fire." The Smiths' attorney, Sacramento-based criminal defense attorney Mark Reichel, told USA TODAY that Travis Smith called 911 after spotting the flames, and were in the area where the fire originated. Eric Palmberg.Ī person is guilty of causing a fire when they recklessly set fire to, burn, or cause the burning of any structure, forest land or property, according to the California Penal Code. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office was not involved, according to Sgt. Forest Service and the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office. The pair were arrested on a Ramey warrant - one issued by a judge before a prosecutor has filed formal charges - following an investigation by the U.S. A father and son were arrested Wednesday in connection with the start of California's Caldor Fire which burned for more than two months in El Dorado County and threatened the Lake Tahoe area earlier this year.ĭavid Scott Smith, 66 of Somerset, California, and his son, Travis Shane Smith, 32, of Folsom, were arrested for reckless arson, according to a statement from the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office. Mr Bilton and his father made it to a lake at the end of the trailhead where they found two employees of the national park who rescued them.Watch Video: Scorched trees left in wake of Caldor Fire in Twin Bridges, California "After we reached the downed, burning tree seen at the end of the video, I had to reverse all the way back to the trailhead, where we were lucky to flag down a boat." "The was between us and the only way out," he wrote. Mr Bilton shared the video on YouTube, writing that they had to drive out from a dead-end road. "Dad this is insane," Mr Bilton says just before the pair encounter a burning tree across the road. "Do I go?" he asks his father as the flames appear above the trees, who responds saying "we are going to find out up here in a minute. In the video he can be heard voicing his concern about whether the car will explode as they drive across embers and the flames surround the car.Īt times during the video, the car is licked by flames skirting the side of the road as the blaze grows in intensity. Mr Bilton said he saw the fire spread over thousands of acres in a matter of hours. The Howe Ridge fire was started by a lightning strike on August 11 and burned more than 1,400 hectares of forest before being contained on August 17. "We hiked back to the car to get out where it was parked at the end of a dead end road," Mr Bilton said. Justin Bilton and his 70-year-old father were forced to evacuate from the Lake Macdonald area in the Glacier National Park in Montana, not far from the United States and Canada border, due to increasing fire danger. A father and son have documented their lucky escape from a forest fire in Montana, capturing their drive to escape the growing flames on video.
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