Authorities arrested a 26-year-old man in California who they say admitted to throwing a firework out of his car window that sparked a wildfire that blazed through thousands of acres in July.
The Butte County District Attorney’s Office said Spencer Grant Anderson of Oroville has been charged with multiple counts of arson in connection with the Thompson Fire, and is being held in the Butte County Jail.
Anderson’s arrest comes after a 50-day investigation into the destructive Thompson Fire, officials said.
The wildfire started on the morning of July 2 on Cherokee Road just outside the city of Oroville in Northern California. Red flag conditions — 100 degrees, low humidity, high winds — quickly spread the flames a quarter-mile across the Thermalito Diversion Pool and the face of Table Mountain.
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The blaze prompted evacuationsin Oroville and destroyed dozens of structures within eight hours of it starting, officials said. It ultimately burned …