Four people were charged with arson, criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment for allegedly starting fires on the US West Coast.
Throughout this year, there have been over 7,718 fire incidents in California alone.
In the past week, millions of more acres were burnt across California, Oregon, and Washington State due to deadly wildfires. Each of these fires was allegedly started by humans. In Washington, two men were arrested under suspicion of arson.
In Oregon and California, one man and one woman were arrested respectively for willfully starting such damaging fires. As of yesterday, the death tolls in California and Oregon are 20 and 31 respectively. In Washington, a small toddler, along with his parents, was killed in the fire.
The fires have burnt off more than two million acres. This is reportedly the worst a wildfire has done in a week.
In Washington, both suspects remain unidentified. They were arrested earlier this week for starting two separate fires. One, reportedly aged 36, was officially charged last Wednesday for starting a fire on State Route 167 at Meridian.
The other man was arrested on Thursday for starting fires at State Route 512 and State Route 7. Police authorities chased him on foot before finally arresting him.
Moreover, in Oregon, the suspect was Michael Jarrod Bakkela, a 41-year-old white male, who allegedly caused the Alameda Fire. He was arrested on Friday, September 11th near Southern Oregon. It took police investigators four days to locate him.
He is being charged with several counts of arson and reckless endangerment.
According to multiple witnesses, Bakkela set the fire behind someone’s home in Phoenix. The Sheriff’s department issued a statement: “Bakkela standing close to a very large fire threatening several homes.”
Lastly, in California, last Friday, Anita Esquivel, aged 37, was charged with creating multiple fires in the Highway 101 area near Boronda Road. She was immediately subdued by police authorities, being taken to Monterey County Jail on several counts of arson.