{"id":31375,"date":"2026-08-07T18:54:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=31375"},"modified":"2026-08-07T18:54:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:54:26","slug":"body-found-in-california-home-burned-by-wildfire-believed-started-by-chain-saw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=31375","title":{"rendered":"Body found in California home burned by wildfire believed started by chain saw"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">SAN ANDREAS, Calif. &#8212; <\/span>A dead body was found inside a central California home burned by a <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/wildfires\">wildfire<\/a> that investigators believe was accidentally started by sparks from a chain saw, authorities said Thursday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Herbert Wayne Smith, 65, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the blaze that has destroyed seven structures and scorched more than 15 square miles (39 square km) of forest in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Calaveras County.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Smith is suspected of \u201crecklessly causing&#8221; the blaze on Monday while \u201coperating equipment capable of producing sparks\u201d without clearing flammable vegetation as required, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Prosecutors will determine whether to file criminal charges. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">An apologetic Smith told KCRA-TV that he was using a chain saw to cut some scrap wood when it ignited. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI\u2019m so sorry for everything that\u2019s happened,\u201d Smith told the news station. \u201cThis is going to destroy my life, one way or another.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Investigators will determine whether the fire contributed to the death of the person found in a burned home near the town of Angels Camp, the Calaveras County Sheriff\u2019s Office said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">In eastern Washington state, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wildfire-arson-spokane-evacuation-arrest-3738a2f795ca9cc0cca93eae76fb7ff0\">three major fires<\/a> continued to burn around the city of Spokane. Officials said Thursday that cooler temperatures and calmer winds have allowed firefighters to make progress against the blazes. No deaths have been reported, though at least 800 buildings have been destroyed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SAN ANDREAS, Calif. &#8212; A dead body was found inside a central California home burned by a wildfire that investigators believe was accidentally started by sparks from a chain saw, authorities said Thursday. Herbert Wayne Smith, 65, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the blaze that has destroyed seven structures and scorched more than 15&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/ae80f311-b092-47b9-8ae2-e6c3e168b114\/wirestory_80417393ddee59102fc1273122bd9d0a_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}