CHICO — The Humboldt Fire, which broke out June 11 beside Old Humboldt Road east of Chico, was intentionally set, arson investigators have announced.
The blaze charred 23,500 acres and destroyed more than 80 homes in and around Paradise.
A multi-agency team of investigators began working to determine the cause of the fire minutes after it was reported.
Cal Fire-Butte County spokesman Joshpae White said the investigation process involved ruling out all the things that couldn”t have caused the fire, before it could be determined what did. He said investigators are withholding several details about the fire, but have announced the ignition time as 12:11 p.m. It was reported in a 9-1-1 call about 10 minutes later.
Officials are interested in talking to the occupants of two vehicles, a white panel truck with no company name and a roof rack on it ? possibly a 2002-2007 Ford ? and a maroon Nissan pickup with a double-wall bed, both seen in the area.
Authorities are also interested in knowing if vehicles of that description frequent Old Humboldt Road in the vicinity of the power lines. The occupants are being sought only to determine if they have information about how the fire started.
Officials said an anonymous letter delivered to local media outlets last month claiming responsibility for the fire had no bearing on making the arson determination.
Cal Fire is offering a $10,00 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of person responsible for starting the Humboldt Fire.
A 24-hour tip line to leave information may be reached at (530) 521-8104. Callers may remain anonymous.
SACRAMENTO (AP) ? Authorities say six women accused of stealing credit card information spent more than $1 million on a shopping spree from San Francisco to Sacramento.
Lt. Bob Lozito of the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force says the women used the financial information to buy gift cards. They then used the gift cards to purchase designer purses, clothes and expensive electronics.
Lozito says they also transferred the stolen financial information to magnetic strips on the cards to withdraw cash from automated teller machines.
Investigators suspect the six are tied to an international credit card fraud ring.
The women allegedly sent more than $120,000 to Eastern European countries in the last year. Investigators said Tuesday that the money went to buy more than 400 credit account numbers stolen from people in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia.
Three of the women have pleaded guilty to identity theft and fraud. The others are awaiting trial. The six range in age from 21 to 37.
