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Man Convicted of Shoving Flaming Car Into Gully, Igniting Giant Wildfire
The New York Times • • nation
Key Points:
- Ronnie Stout, a 44-year-old man from Chico, California, was convicted of arson for igniting the Park Fire in July 2024, which burned 429,603 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes across Northern California.
- The Park Fire was the largest intentionally set wildfire in California history and the fourth-largest overall, burning for two months before full containment.
- Stout, a convicted felon subject to California’s “three-strikes” law, faces a minimum of 25 years to life in prison, with sentencing scheduled for October.
- Prosecutors stated Stout pushed his burning car into a gully after it got stuck, causing the fire, though they did not claim he intended to start a wildfire; his defense argued the evidence did not support a willful arson conviction.
- The Park Fire occurred six years after the deadly Camp Fire in Butte County, which killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise.
