BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. — Cal Fire Butte County said a man was arrested Tuesday afternoon after allegedly setting a backfire near the Thompson Fire.
Officials said 61-year-old Harold Pulley set a fire off Oro Quincy Highway hours after the Thompson Fire ignited off Cherokee Road, northeast of Oroville.
Cal Fire officials responded to the property and said they found Pulley standing near a quarter acre of burned land.
Officials said he set the fire with a propane torch and was arrested on suspicion of unlawfully causing a fire to wildland.
"The backfire set by Pulley was in an area that posed a significant risk to the public, property and safety of personnel engaged in firefighting activities on the Thompson Fire," Cal Fire said in a press release.
Anyone with information about this or other suspicious fires are encouraged by officials to contact Cal Fire at 530-538-7888 or the statewide arson hotline at 1-800-468-4408.
The Thompson Fire is still burning in Butte County, but is now 29% contained and has burned 3,789 acres. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
