Arson suspect arrested in Clayton fire in Lake County

Authorities on Monday arrested a 40-year-old Clearlake man suspected of igniting the destructive wildfire that ripped through Lower Lake, burning more than 175 homes and businesses and causing more than $10 million in damage before crews managed to halt its spread.

Damin Anthony Pashilk was arrested on 17 counts of arson, said Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin, who announced the arrest at 8 p.m. Monday from the Twin Pine Casino in Middletown, which also serves as one of three evacuation centers. The announcement, which drew loud cheers from a crowd gathered at the casino, came on the third day of a massive firefighting effort that had largely controlled the fire late Monday despite high winds and temperatures that climbed into the 90s.

By 11 p.m., the fire had consumed 4,000 acres and was 5 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

“This suspect is in jail tonight,” Martin said.

Pashilk is being held at the Lake County Jail on $5 million bail, Martin said.

A motive for the suspected arson wasn’t released, and officials wouldn’t say whether Pashilk also is a suspect in a series of three suspicious fires last week. Two of those fires burned in Lower Lake, not far from the start of the Clayton fire, and one burned about 20 miles away, west of Lake Berryessa in Napa County. All the fires, including the Clayton fire, began about the same time of evening in the same vicinity.

Martin credited Cal Fire and its arson investigators with helping identify Pashilk as the suspect. He has been under investigation for more than a year, officials said.

They would not provide other details, including Pashilk’s alleged motives or how he may have carried out the arsons.

Arrest records for the San Francisco-born Pashilk date back to at least 2005 for drug use, driving with a suspended or revoked license and parole violation.

Speaking after a news conference, Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott described authorities’ investigation as “painstaking.”

Fire investigators “made their case as soon as they had the information and the evidence to support making an arrest,” Pimlott said.

Pimlott would not say whether Pashilk is a suspect in igniting the destructive Rocky and Jerusalem fires that tore through Lake County last year. Pashilk’s arrest comes less than a week after investigators determined the devastating Valley fire was sparked by a Middletown homeowner’s faulty hot tub wiring.

Martin also defended the pace of the arson investigation that led to Pashilk’s arrest.

“If the question is, did we allow him to continue his crime spree, no, that’s not the case,” Martin said.

Lake County Supervisor Rob Brown said he was not surprised the fire is a suspected arson.

“These fires don’t just start themselves,” Brown said. “I can’t imagine that we’d have this kind of fire activity in the area without coming back to a suspected arsonist. It has had a devastating impact on all of Lake County … it has been a very emotional time, and every time someone sees smoke now those emotions blow back up.”

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Lake County on Monday, freeing up federal disaster funding to assist efforts to rebuild and repair infrastructure damaged by the Clayton fire - one of eight large fires burning in California now involving more than 9,000 firefighters. While the Lake County fire is one of the smaller fires, “the destruction this fire has caused is enormous,” said Daniel Berlant, Cal Fire public information officer.

Cal Fire on Monday night said 1,500 homes in the Lower Lake and southern Clearlake remain threatened, though crews were able to stop the fire’s spread Monday.

“Sunday and Monday are like night and day,” said Paul Lowenthal, who’s serving as a public information officer for the fire. “Despite the dry fuels, winds and high temperatures today, firefighters on the ground and in the air essentially stopped the fire in its tracks.”

The Clayton fire delivered another crippling blow to a region still reeling from last summer’s series of fires, the memory of which already had set residents on edge this summer.

Losses for Lower Lake and Clearlake have been especially difficult, said North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg. The county’s largely blue-collar workforce and economy, heavily dependent on recreation and agriculture as the top two industries, has taken a major blow.

“Lake County is proud of its blue-collar roots,” McGuire said. “This is also one of the poorest counties in California. Some of the communities here have generational poverty and we need to lift these communities out of poverty, not only rebuilding but rebuilding stronger and improving land values that can help increase money for schools, health services and fire districts.”

The Clayton fire, like others in Lake County, started not far from a roadway then quickly spread, growing by hundreds of acres as it burned across dry grass and oak woodlands. But this fire, unlike 2015’s three major Lake County blazes, was closer to Clearlake, the county’s largest town, with 16,000 people.

The fire was reported just before 5 p.m. Saturday off Highway 29 and Clayton Creek Road, just south of Lower Lake. It initially spread southeast and by late Saturday night had grown to 900 acres, threatening some 200 homes with about 500 residents evacuated.

By dawn Sunday, the fire had spread to 1,400 acres and four homes had burned. Twenty-four hours later, it was 4,000 acres, with at least 175 structures destroyed and 4,000 people evacuated. The fire swept into Lower Lake early Sunday afternoon as firefighters tried to keep the flames south of Morgan Valley Road, east of town.

But as winds increased, embers shot over the roadway.

Firefighters rushed to head off the advancing flames, while from overhead, air tankers dropped retardant on homes and businesses. Despite those efforts, flames damaged or destroyed a number of businesses fronting Main Street between Highway 29 and Mill Street, including a Habitat for Humanity office, the Tuscany Village Winery, a deli, a bar, a firehouse and an auto repair shop.

“Despite the loss, there were a lot of saves, a lot of hard firefights,” Lowenthal said about the firefighters’ efforts.

Monday morning, a thick fog of acrid smoke blanketed downtown Lower Lake as weary firefighters began assessing the damage.

The contrast of what survived and what didn’t is great. Scorch marks show flames burned up to the edge of a Lower Lake elementary school. Here and there, amid the burned blocks, whole homes still stand.

But it was too late for Lower Lake resident Ruben Ybarra, who sat on an overturned bucket Monday morning, surveying the twisted and charred remains of what used to be his home on Copsey Creek Way north of downtown Lower Lake. Nearby lay the body of his black cow.

Ybarra’s three dogs and a cat also were killed when flames roared through the house. Firefighters helped Ybarra dig a grave for the pets on a hill overlooking the home site.

“That’s where they liked to run,” the heavy equipment operator said with tears in his eyes.

Local officials said the Clayton fire mirrors several aspects of last year’s massive Valley fire, including the distinctive popping sound of exploding propane tanks and the destruction of whole neighborhoods. The massive fire that exploded last September killed four people, burned 76,000 acres and destroyed nearly 1,300 homes in southern Lake County.

“The percentage of homes lost in Lower Lake is comparably on the same scale of what was lost in the Valley fire,” Martin said. “I think on a smaller scale it’s every bit as devastating.”

McGuire, who has been involved in fire coordination efforts, said fire and law enforcement crews helped prevent a rapid spread of the fire Monday - it grew just 50 acres - a feat some officials said was assisted by the lessons learned during the Valley fire. He also underscored a sense of resilience among Lake County’s residents hit by destructive fires two years in a row.

“We can’t believe we’re here again,” McGuire said. “This county is still reeling from the impacts of the Valley fire. It’s devastating. Many of us are still in shock. There is a lot of frustration and anger but it’s a time that now, more than ever, we have to pull together and rebuild stronger.”

No new evacuations were ordered Monday but the evacuation order will remain in effect for a few days.

“We will start into our recovery phase in the next day or two and get people back into their homes and find housing for those who need it,” Martin said. “There’s a lot of damage here, just as in the Valley fire. There are a lot of hazardous materials - power lines down. It’s not safe to return.”