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Tag: Hopkins Fire

Man arrested for starting the Hopkins Fire in Calpella, California

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags , , 3 Comments on Man arrested for starting the Hopkins Fire in Calpella, California

Will be charged with parole violation, aggravated arson (multiple structures), arson of an inhabited structure, and arson during a state of emergency

3:16 p.m. PDT Sept, 15, 2021

Hopkins Fire
Hopkins Fire, looking southeast from Ridgewood Grade at 3:39 p.m. PDT Sept. 12, 2021.

On Tuesday September 14, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and officers from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s office arrested a person for starting the Hopkins Fire that on Sunday burned numerous structures and 257 acres in Calpella, California.

During a briefing at the Incident Command Post on Tuesday, an officer from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office announced the status of the case.

Investigators recovered footage from a security camera at a local business that showed an adult male starting the fire. Tuesday morning one of the investigators saw that person in downtown Calpella who was then contacted and identified as Devin Lamar Johnson, a 20-year old male from Ukiah, California. Mr. Johnson was on probation in Mendocino County for an attempted robbery charge.

After fire investigators and Sheriff’s detectives followed up, Mr. Johnson was arrested and placed in the Mendocino County Jail on a no bail status to be charged for parole violation and three arson charges: aggravated arson (multiple structures), arson of an inhabited structure, and arson during a state of emergency.

Mr. Johnson may have been photographed watching the fire in a photo taken by Peter Armstrong.

Hopkins Fire map
Hopkins Fire map. The icons represent heat detected by satellites as late as 4:53 a.m. PDT Sept. 13, 2021.

Update, September 16, 2021: The Press Democrat reported yesterday a damage assessment found that 30 homes and 16 other structures were destroyed in the Hopkins Fire.

Hopkins Fire burns structures in Mendocino County, California

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories WildfireTags ,

Multiple homes destroyed in Calpella

8:54 a.m. PDT Sept. 13, 2021

Hopkins Fire map
Hopkins Fire map. The icons represent heat detected by satellites as late as 4:53 a.m. PDT Sept. 13, 2021.

Multiple homes burned Sunday in the Mendocino County community of Capella Sunday afternoon in Northern California. Capella is on the Redwood Highway between Redwood Valley and Ukiah west of Lake Mendocino.

The fire was reported on the west side of Eastside Cappella Road off Hopkins Street at 2:01 p.m. Sunday. It was pushed by a 20 mph wind while the relative humidity was in the low 20s and ran east to the shore of Lake Mendocino, a distance of about a mile.

Hopkins Fire
Hopkins Fire, looking southeast from Ridgewood Grade at 3:39 p.m. PDT Sept. 12, 2021.

Matt LaFever, a reporter for Redheaded Blackbelt, said he saw at least 20 structures in flames. Photographer Kent Porter with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat recorded video of a neighborhood that was destroyed on Eastside Calpella Road.

Firefighters were able to start getting containment of the fire after it got to Lake Mendocino. The photo below taken Monday at 7:57 a.m. shows a small amount of smoke that had settled near the ground. CAL FIRE reported that the Hopkins Fire burned 257 acres.

Smoke from the Hopkins Fire
Smoke from the Hopkins Fire settles near the ground, as seen from the Redwood Valley camera, looking south at 7:57 a.m. Sept. 13, 2021.