King Fire


The King Fire was a wildfire that scorched over of land in El Dorado County, California in the fall of 2014. The fire, which was named because it started off King of the Mountain Road in Pollock Pines, started on September 13, 2014 near Pollock Pines, California, to the east of Sacramento.

Events

On September 16, three days after starting, the fire had spread to forcing the evacuation of over five hundred homes A handcrew of 10 inmates and a Fire Captain were saved from being overrun when they were led to safety by a helicopter that was staged at the nearby Swansboro Country Airport. By September 18, the fire had expanded to, becoming the second largest wildfire of the 2014 California wildfire season. As a result of this growth, the mandatory evacuation order was expanded to 20,000 homes.
By the start of October the fire had grown to with containment increasing to 94%. On October 9, the perimeter of the King Fire was reported to be 100% contained, with a final acreage of. During the following days, pockets of fire continued burning deep inside the containment lines.
On October 10, the closure area was reduced, as additional progress was made. During the next several days, the wildfire was diminished further, as the weather in the region entered a cooling trend. The King Fire injured a total of twelve people and caused the evacuation of nearly 3,000 people in the area.
The King Fire has destroyed 12 singles residences and 68 other residential structures, but the amount of damage caused by the wildfire is currently unknown.

Cause

On September 18, 2014, Wayne Huntsman was arrested on suspicion of intentionally starting the fire. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On April 8, 2016, Wayne Huntsman pleaded guilty to arson and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, as well as being ordered to pay $60,000,000 in restitution.