A 71-year-old man was arrested Friday on suspicion of arson for igniting the massive Oak fire in Mariposa County last year that destroyed 127 residences and dozens of outbuildings, prosecutors and investigators announced.
Arson investigators took Edward Frederick Wackerman, a longtime Mariposa resident, into custody without incident after a nearly yearlong extensive probe into the blaze that also consumed 19,244 acres of vegetation, officials said.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials announced that Wackerman was arrested on suspicion of multiple felonies, including aggravated arson, arson that caused great bodily injury and arson that caused damage to an inhabited dwelling. The “investigation is under review by our office,” the Mariposa County district attorney said in statement.
Investigators said they wouldn’t be offering details at this stage on how the massive fire was set.
No one was killed by the devastating blaze, but Cal Fire officials reported at least three firefighters were injured and thousands of people were evacuated.
The Oak fire began in the shadow of Yosemite National Park at about 2:10 p.m. July 22 in the area of Midpines. A combination of heat, low humidity and parched vegetation bedeviled firefighters battling the inferno that spread through the Sierra Nevada foothills, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency for Mariposa County. The blaze burned until early August before being fully contained with more than 2,000 firefighters battling the flames at its height.
Local and federal investigators plan to provide more details in a news conference Tuesday outside the courthouse.
