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A California garbage truck driver has been arrested in connection with the 2019 sandalwood fire that killed two people and burned more than 1,000 acres, authorities said.
Antonio Ornelas-Velazquez was arrested on Saturday by peace officers from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
He was charged with two counts of manslaughter and one count of unlawfully causing a fire causing serious bodily harm.
Ornelas-Velazquez is accused of starting the deadly fire after throwing a load of burning garbage next to the dry vegetation, the Riverside County Fire Department said in a tweet.
“The fire spread from the burning rubbish heap to the dry vegetation, resulting in the deaths of two civilians, 72 structures destroyed, 16 structures damaged and burned more than 1,000 acres of vegetation,” said fire officials.
According to an arrest report, two different drivers warned Ornelas-Velazquez that throwing the burning rubbish was a fire hazard. Authorities said he ignored the warnings and dumped the trash, causing a bush to burn.
High winds then pushed the flames towards a mobile home park, the report said.
The fire was contained in October 2019.
The two victims were discovered in the mobile home park of Villa Calimesa. One of them has been identified by authorities as Lois Arvikson, 89.
Arvikson’s son told reporters he was on the phone with his mother as she prepared to leave her home when the line suddenly went down, according to NBC Los Angeles.
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The other victim has been identified as Hannah Labelle, 61, according to The Desert Sun. Family friend Kaitlin Campbell told the newspaper that Labelle was “frantically” trying to tackle the rapid fire with a garden hose as flames rose from behind her house.
“A witness said they [saw] she returned home after being unable to fight the fire, never to be seen again, ”said Campbell.
Authorities found her body inside her home and later pronounced her dead, The Desert Sun reported.
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