A driver of a garbage truck in California has been arrested in connection with the Sandalwood fire in 2019 that killed two people and burned more than 1,000 acres.
Antonio Ornelas-Velazquez was arrested Saturday by peacekeepers at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
He is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawful arson, causing serious bodily injury.
Ornelas-Velazquez is accused of setting the deadly fire on fire after dumping a burning rubble next to dry vegetation, the Riverside County Fire Department said in a tweet.
“The fire spread from the burning pile of rubbish in the dry vegetation, resulting in the deaths of two civilians, 72 structures were destroyed, 16 structures damaged and burned more than 1000 hectares of vegetation,” said fire department.
The fire was extinguished in October 2019.
Both victims were discovered in the Villa Calimesa Mobile Home Park. One has been identified by authorities as 89-year-old Lois Arvikson.
The Arvikson son told reporters he was telephoning his mother while she was leaving her home when the line suddenly died, according to NBC Los Angeles.
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According to The Desert Sun, the other victim was identified as Hannah Labelle, 61. Kaitlin Campbell, a family friend, told the newspaper Labelle was “insanely” trying to fight the fast-moving fire with a garden hose while flames rose behind her house.
A witness said they [saw] she enters her house after she could not fight the fire, only to never be seen again, “Campbell said.
Authorities found her body in her home and later declared her dead, The Desert Sun reported.
