175+ Structures Consumed, Arsonist Arrested For Current And Previous Wildfires

A man was arrested on Monday on suspicion of arson, officials said, over a wildfire in Northern California that has destroyed more than 175 homes and businesses and forced hundreds of residents to flee. The conflagration is one of two dozen major wildfires across the drought-parched U.S. West that have all together charred nearly 300,000 acres (120,000 hectares). Damin Pashilk, 40, faces 17 counts of arson over the so-called Clayton Fire, in the foothill community of Lower Lake, and other fires nearby over the past year, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.

"Mr. Pashilk committed a horrific crime and we will seek prosecution to the fullest extent of the law," Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott said in a statement.