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Community Takes Stock After Arson Arrest As Clayton Fire Continues To Burn

LAKE COUNTY (CBS13) — The man who Cal Fire investigators suspect of starting the Clayton Fire in Lake County remains behind bars Tuesday.

40-year old Damin Anthony Pashilk was arrested by Cal Fire investigators Monday evening and charged with arson.

According to the California Department of Corrections, Pashilk served as an inmate firefighter in Trinity County in 2007.

He is now accused of setting the Clayton Fire along with 16 other fires around Lake County in the last year.

Community members were shocked and angry to find their hometown was devastated by an arsonist.

Duane Barbic's home was one of many around Lower Lake that didn't make it.

Barbic is an avid antique collector who owned dozens of collector's items handed down to him by family from the early 1900s.

He had to evacuate his home last year during the Rocky Fire but he wasn't as fortunate this year.

Barbic says he doesn't know how to react after hearing  that 40-year old Damin Pashilk was named a suspect in the fire that knocked his home to the ground.

"It's really hard to imagine and put a face behind who did this," Barbic said.

According to Lake County's District Attorney, Pashilk's criminal history stems back to 2000.

Since then, Pashilk has been charged with possession of methamphetine and a firearm, driving under the influence, evading a police officer and resisting arrest.

Pashilk was on parole from 2007 until 2011, when he was released.

"What happened to the community of Lower Lake is devastating. This person took advantage of the dry conditions and intentionally set this fire putting a lot of people in danger," Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said.

Berlant says Pashilk had been on Cal Fire's radar before the Clayton Fire.
CBS 13 asked Berlant how Cal Fire was able to quickly arrest Pashilk:

"When the fire started, a fire investigator came out with fire crews to survey the damage and immediately look for any signs or clues that would lead to what started this fire," Berlant answered.

Berlant says there was a pattern established with 16 other fires around Lake County over the last year, and his agency believes Pashilk is connected to all of them.

The community of Lower Lake is devastated by the damage caused by Pashilk, and several members expressed to CBS 13 that it would be a bad idea for Pashilk to ever return to Lake County.

"If he crossed the intersection into downtown Lower Lake, he wouldn't make it too far," one man said.

The devastation of the Clayton Fire is so widespread, Berlant says it'll take months to years for the community to rebuild.
Pashilk is in custody at the Lake County Jail on more than five-million dollars bail.

His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Lakeport.

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