Firefighters roll up hose on Highway 88 in Alpine County on Sept. 16 before the highway opened Sept. 21.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
A father and son have been arrested and accused of reckless arson in connection with the Caldor Fire, the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office announced on Wednesday.
David Scott Smith, 66, and Travis Shane Smith, 32, were arrested on warrants preceding the filing of criminal charges.
is a warrant that is issued before criminal charges are filed.
The two men are accused of violating section 452 of the California Penal Code, commonly referred to as “reckless arson,” which caused inhabited properties to burn and resulted in great bodily injury to multiple victims.
The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office worked together with the U.S. Forest Service, Cal Fire, the California Department of Justice and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Crime Lab to investigate the cause of the Caldor Fire.
“We are incredibly grateful for the work put into this investigation by all agencies involved, and look forward to following the process of prosecuting these arsonists,” said the South Lake Tahoe Police Department in a statement on Facebook.
The Caldor Fire burned more than 200,000 acres in El Dorado, Alpine and Amador Counties.
At its peak near the end of August, it came within a few miles of Carson Valley and prompted the first mandatory evacuation in Douglas County history when Lake Tahoe residents were ordered from their homes.
