Arson arrest made in California’s Park Fire. Man pushed flaming car into gully, DA says

Camila Pedrosa
·2 min read
6

A man has been arrested by Cal Fire arson personnel suspected of sparking the Park Fire, California’s largest wildfire of the year, authorities announced Thursday.

In a media release, Mike Ramsey, the county’s district attorney, said a 42-year-old Chico man was seen Wednesday just before 3 p.m. pushing a car that was on fire into a ditch near Alligator Hole in Upper Bidwell Park. The car reportedly rolled approximately 60 feet down an embankment, where it “burned completely” and spread into the 45,000-acre Park Fire.

The office said the man was then seen leaving the area by blending in with others nearby who were fleeing the blaze.

Arson investigators arrested a man accused of starting the Park Fire near Chico by pushing a flaming vehicle into a gully.
Arson investigators arrested a man accused of starting the Park Fire near Chico by pushing a flaming vehicle into a gully.

Investigators with Cal Fire’s arson unit secured the scene to search for clues to uncover the man’s identity, and he was “eventually identified,” Ramsey said in a news release.

A judge issued a warrant for the man early on Thursday, and he was booked into the Butte County Jail, where he will stay until he is arraigned in court on Monday. County officials said his name will be released later on Thursday.

A woman named Elizabeth Fox uploaded a video to TikTok on Wednesday saying she saw the man “blow up his car and then put it in neutral and roll it down the hill, and take off like nothing happened.” In the video, Fox said she took a photo of the man leaving the scene and gave a statement to investigators.

As of 11:30 a.m. Thursday, the video has more than 670,000 views and 75,000 likes.

The District Attorney’s Office encourages anyone who has information or was in the Alligator Hole area between noon and 3 p.m. on Wednesday is to call Cal Fire investigations at 530-538-7888.