CLEARLAKE >> A man allegedly attempted to send a Clearlake house up in smoke, and with it, the lives of its inhabitants.
Clearlake Police offers responding to an early morning alarm located in the 14100 block of Konocti Street arrived to find a two-story house completely involved with a fire yesterday morning.
Nearby power lines were also down.
Officers immediately began evacuating the residence as the house began to burn out of control. Fire crews from the Lake County Fire Protection District initially set to work protecting nearby homes from the blaze. Once additional engines arrived on the scene, crews turned their full attention to extinguishing the fire.
Officers helped four individuals evacuate from the structure and began interviewing them. This investigation led to the arrest of 29-year-old Anthony Wayne Conley, also a resident of the house.
According to a statement prepared by CPD Sgt. Tim Hobbs, police suspect Conley willingly and intentionally started the fire knowing the home contained other four inhabitants, his housemates.
Conley faces charges of vandalism, two counts of arson of an inhabited structure and four counts of attempted murder, all of which are felonies.
He remains in custody at the Lake County Jail with bail standing at $800,000.
CPD and LCFPD continue to investigate Conley’s motives, as well as further details about the origin of the fire.
