CAL FIRE says a 65-year-old handyman “recklessly” caused the Gann Fire while operating equipment that did not meet fire prevention requirements

By Andrew J. Campa
Los Angeles Times

SAN ANDREAS, Calif. — A Northern California man arrested on suspicion of causing a deadly fire that’s grown to more than 10,000 acres reportedly said the blaze was unintended, and that he was just working to save money for a birthday dinner with his wife.

Fire officials took 65-year-old Herbert Wayne Smith into custody on Monday around 7:45 p.m., according to arrest records. Detectives believe the Valley Springs handyman caused the Gann fire, which started earlier that day.

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The Gann fire is roughly 35 miles east of Stockton and entirely within Calaveras County. The blaze had grown to 10,374 acres, with 26% containment, as of Thursday afternoon.

Seven structures have been destroyed in the fire, and a body was reportedly recovered from one of those burned buildings. Multiple areas have been evacuated. Roughly 2,715 firefighting personnel from more than 20 agencies statewide have responded, including several air tankers.

Gann was booked before a body was discovered, and his charges are yet to be updated.

“The investigation determined that Smith was responsible for recklessly causing the Gann Fire, which ignited on Aug. 3 … in a rural area southeast of New Hogan Lake,” the Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection posted in a statement.

Smith was operating equipment, reportedly a chainsaw, that did not comply with fire prevention requirements and was capable of producing sparks, according to Cal Fire. Any individual who uses such equipment near wildlands must clear flammable vegetation around a specific work area and maintain firefighting tools.

Investigators also said Smith was supposed to ensure the fire didn’t escape and spread beyond the property where it originated.

He was booked into a local jail for allegedly causing the fire of a structure, forest or land, according to arrest records.

Cal Fire has sent the case to the Calaveras County district attorney’s office for review.

“I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened,” Smith told Sacramento NBC affiliate KCRA on Thursday afternoon. “That was never my intent. I was just out there trying to get some money together, and it turned into this.”

Smith told the station that Monday was his birthday and he was cutting scraps that day when the fire ignited, trying to earn a few dollars so he could take his wife out to dinner.

This wasn’t Smith’s first brush with fire, however.

He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge in 2019 of burning lands that belonged to another and paid $600 in court fees while serving 36 months of probation, according to court records.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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