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Arson Arrest in Wildfire That Devastated California Town

Ronald Beau Marshall, 24, was arrested Saturday and charged with setting the Boles Fire, which burned half the town of Weed, Calif.
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Police have arrested a suspected arsonist they say intentionally set a northern California wildfire that devastated a lumber town last month, sending residents running for their lives.

Weed, California, police arrested 24-year-old Ronald Beau Marshall and charged him with arson in the Boles Fire, which torched nearly 500 acres and destroyed 150 homes and structures in the town of 2,967 people near the Oregon border.

Police would not say how Marshall started the fire because investigators are still interviewing witnesses, but said he is charged with three counts of arson and is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

The fire, which broke out Sept. 15, destroyed roughly half of the town of Weed, which is located about 50 miles south of the Oregon border.

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— Phil Helsel