Boy said to have started Willow fire near Bass Lake

A boy who was allegedly igniting some small pine branches with a lighter is being blamed for starting the Willow fire that has now burned more than 2,000 acres east of Bass Lake, Madera County District Attorney David Linn said Tuesday.

The boy took a lighter from a tool kit in his family’s car, Linn said, and was burning small pine branches with needles on them and they fell on the ground, setting off the fire.

Linn said the family was not around when that happened, and once the flames began to spread, the youth started yelling, “Help! Help!”

Linn said he’s withholding the name, age and hometown of the suspect because he’s a juvenile.

No charges have been filed, Linn said. His office is expecting more reports on Wednesday, at which time Linn said he will formulate the charges.

Linn said the boy and his family were forthcoming with information.

“It also appears that both the suspect and the family attempted to put the fire out by themselves and were unable to and they did in fact call the fire in to 911,” Linn said.

Linn said his office is working with Forest Service investigators on the case.

By Wednesday morning, fire crews had containment lines around 30% of the blaze, said David Cooper, the incident commander with Sierra National Forest. Federal officials estimate the cost of battling the blaze has reached $2.1 million so far. The Wednesday morning update from the forest service upped the estimated size of the fire to 2,007 acres.

The blaze, which began Saturday between Bass Lake and North Fork in Madera County, has not damaged any homes or outbuildings. Road 274, the main thoroughfare between Bass Lake and North Fork, was closed for a time but reopened on Monday.

U.S. Forest Service spokesman Cody Norris said even with Road 274 reopening, some of the roads coming off of it are still closed, including Willow Canyon Drive and Central Camp Road. Other closures include Douglas Ranger Station Road and Road 233, he said.

A community meeting Tuesday night drew a crowd to the North Fork Town Hall. By the meeting’s 7 p.m. start time, nearly all of the chairs were filled and more people were left to stand.

Many area residents arrived early, including Tom Hebrard, a resident of North Fork since 1947.

When the 70-year-old heard the news that a juvenile is suspected of causing the fire, he said the boy’s parents should be responsible for what the kid does.

“They should pay for the fire,” Hebrard said.

The blaze has caused North Fork to be engulfed with smoke around 5 to 6 in the morning, Hebrard said. It’s not until later in the day when the air currents change and go toward the canyon that the smoke is lifted.

Maryann McGovran, tribal council chairwoman for the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians, said the tribal council has been working closely with the Forest Service because tribal citizens are in the areas that are under potential evacuation.

She said some have already evacuated because they are near where the fire started, and others have been put on an evacuation advisory list.

McGovran said it’s unfortunate that the suspect is a young boy. However, she said she appreciated the fact that the parents or responsible adults in that child’s life are making an effort to make amends.

“A lot of us here are parents and we know that kids will be kids sometimes,” McGovran said. “And you know we will leave it up to local law enforcement and the DA to decide what needs to be done about it.”

Fight from the air

Ten aircraft are dropping water or retardant on the flames, and more than 1,200 firefighters from around the state have arrived to battle the fire.

Some of the hillsides where firefighters are confronting flames are steep. Forest Service spokesman Jeff Smith said the terrain has an approximately 60% slope. As a result, firefighters are encountering rolling objects like pine cones that are on fire.

Cody said crews are creating fire lines with shovels and are scratching the ground to the layer of mineral soil to build troughs to catch rolling debris.

No firefighters have been injured, but one firefighter became fatigued and Norris said it was probably the result of a combination of heat and lack of sleep.

This story was originally published July 28, 2015 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Boy said to have started Willow fire near Bass Lake."