Bay Area arson suspect arrested in two Lake County fires

A Bay Area man has been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with two small wildland fires that broke out Sunday and Monday in Lake County.

Merrill C. Brown, 65, of Hercules is suspected of starting the fires, one near Lakeport and one near Kelseyville, according to Cal Fire.

State and local firefighters quickly extinguished the fires, limiting them to a half-acre altogether, officials said.

Cal Fire Capt. Warren Parrish said he cannot divulge further details of the arson investigation at this time. Brown, an electrician who was born in Lakeport, is being held on $100,000 bail, according to Lake County jail records.

The fires happened during a record-breaking heat wave on the North Coast and as Lake County struggles to rebuild following devastating fires in 2015 and 2016. The Rocky, Jerusalem and Valley fires in 2015 burned some 170,000 acres. The Valley fire, the most destructive of the three, destroyed ?1,300 homes and killed at least four people. One person remains missing.

Arson is the suspected cause of some smaller fires in 2015 and 2016, and last year’s Clayton fire, which tore through 4,000 acres in and around Lower Lake, destroying 300 structures and damaging two.

Damin Anthony Pashilk, a 41-year-old Clearlake handyman, has been charged with igniting the Clayton fire and 15 others, and attempting to light a 17th fire. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in October.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 707-462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.