Progress has been made on determining the cause of another recent fire. On Nov. 17, U.S. Forest Service and Santa Barbara County Fire Department investigators announced that they had arrested a suspect believed to be responsible for starting the Gap Fire.
As of press time, the 16-year-old suspect was in custody at the Santa Barbara County juvenile detention facility in Santa Maria, according to a press release from the fire department. Arson charges were expected to be filed with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s office.
The Gap Fire started on July 1 and burned approximately 9,544 acres of private and National Forest land before it was declared contained on July 28. The estimated cost of suppressing the fire is more than $20 million, according to the release.
This article appears in Nov 20-27, 2008.