Suspected King Fire Arsonist Has Prior Convictions In Santa Cruz County
SANTA CRUZ (CBS SF) -- A man suspected of deliberately starting the massive King Fire burning east of Sacramento has prior felony convictions in Santa Cruz County, El Dorado County prosecutors said Thursday.
Wayne Allen Huntsman, 37, of Pollock Pines was arrested Wednesday and charged with arson for allegedly setting the fire, which had grown to nearly 71,000 acres as of Thursday morning, according to Cal Fire.
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Two people have been injured and more than 2,000 residences and 1,500 other structures are threatened by the fast-moving wildfire, but none have yet been destroyed, Cal Fire officials said.
So far 3,000 people have been evacuated as 3,600 firefighters work to contain the fire. It was only 5 percent contained as of Thursday morning.
Huntsman "willfully and maliciously" set a forest area on fire near Pollock Pines on Saturday, according to charging documents filed Thursday in El Dorado County.
He has connections to Santa Cruz County, and was convicted of assault and grand theft there in 1997.
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