LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Thirteen days after it started, the Clayton fire was fully contained on Friday evening.
The fire began off of Highway 29 and Clayton Creek south of Lower Lake on the evening of Aug. 13, burning a total of 3,929 acres and nearly 300 structures, two-thirds of which were homes.
Cal Fire originally had estimated the fire would be fully contained on Sunday, but work has continued this week in the fire area as firefighters continued mop up and repairing damage from the suppression effort, according to Cal Fire.
Even on Friday evening, there were signs that some hot spots in the fire area were still active.
Just after 6:15 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to a smoke check in the 18000 block of Cantwell Ranch Road, where a stump and some burning debris were found. The small fire was quickly put out, according to radio reports.
Cal Fire determined that the fire's cause was arson, and two days after the fire began 40-year-old Damin Anthony Pashilk of Clearlake was arrested for setting it.
Pashilk, who appeared in court on Aug. 17, is charged with 19 counts, including 15 for felony arson with special allegations of causing multiple structures to burn and committing a crime in a disaster area.
Authorities believe he set 11 other fires going back to July 2015.
Those fires did not include the Rocky fire, which investigators said were caused by the failure of an outdoor gas water heater strapped to a tree near an outbuilding that contained flammable liquids, or the Valley fire, determined to have been caused by faulty wiring to a Cobb residence's hot tub. The Jerusalem fire's cause has not yet been determined.
Pashilk is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 7 for the entry of plea.
He remains in the Lake County Jail on an enhanced $5 million bail.
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Clayton fire reaches 100-percent containment
- Elizabeth Larson
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