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Man charged with starting devastating wildfire

By WTOP Staff

WEED, Calif. (AP) — Police have arrested a Northern California man on suspicion of starting a wildfire that devastated the lumber town of Weed.

Sgt. Justin Mayberry says 24-year-old Ronald Beau Marshall was arrested Saturday on felony counts of arson to inhabited structures, property and forest land.

The Siskiyou County District Attorney’s office filed a criminal complaint against Marshall on Friday. A judge issued a warrant for Marshall’s arrest.

He was booked into jail on $250,000 bail. A phone number listed for Marshall’s home in Weed was disconnected.

Mayberry said he couldn’t discuss the details of the case because the investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.

The wind-drive blaze devastated Weed, quickly burning through a hillside neighborhood and destroying 150 structures — most of them houses. About 1,500 residents evacuated.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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