Suspect Arrested In Sikiyou County Fire That Destroyed 150 Buildings

SISKIYOU COUNTY (CBS13) - Police have arrested a suspect they say started the destructive Boles Fire that left scores of families in the town of Weed homeless.

Ronald Beau Marshall, 24, of Weed was arrested Saturday after a joint investigation between Weed Police Department, Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department and CAL FIRE, according to a statement from CAL FIRE.

The Siskiyou County District Attorney's office filed a criminal complaint against Marshall on Friday. A judge issued a warrant for Marshall's arrest.

Marshall was booked into the Siskiyou County Jail on felony charges of arson of an inhabited structure or property, arson to forest land, and arson of property of another. Bail for Marshall has been set at $250,000.

A phone number listed for Marshall's home in Weed was disconnected.

The fire started on September 15. Fanned by 40 mph flames, it spread into town where it quickly devoured a hillside neighborhood. The flames destroyed or damaged 150 structures, including 100 homes, the saw mill and a church. At times, the fire moved so fast that residents had only a few minutes to get out of the way.

"It went through here so fast it was unbelievable. I've never seen anything like this," Jim Taylor, a retired butcher who has lived in the town for 30 years. "I'm not a real religious person, but somebody was looking out for me."

Taylor said fire bombers dropped retardant over his house. As his home and his deck furniture turned pink from the retardant, another house nearby erupted into flames. Across the street, pine and oak trees were burned to a crisp, and small flames and smoke drifted up from chunky embers.

Weed and the forest that surrounds it were like a tinderbox after three years of severe drought. And Weed's winds are notorious. The steady breezes were what attracted town founder Abner Weed to build his lumber business there in 1897, after he realized that wood dried more quickly when fanned by nature.

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