SANTA CLARITA, CALIF. — A boy playing with matches started a fire in north Los Angeles County that consumed more than 38,000 acres and destroyed 21 homes last week, authorities said Tuesday.
The boy, whose name and age were not released, was interviewed a day after the Buckweed fire was sparked Oct. 21, said sheriff’s Sgt. Diane Hecht.
“He admitted to playing with matches and accidentally starting the fire,” Hecht said in a statement.
The boy was released to his parents, and the case will be presented to the district attorney’s office, Hecht said.
The 60-square-mile fire began in an area near Agua Dulce and was spread by fierce desert winds. It was among more than a dozen major wildfires that killed 14 people and blackened 809 square miles from Los Angeles to the Mexican border.
Authorities arrested five people for arson during that period, but none has been linked to any major blaze.
Additional national news briefs:
Quake rattles San Francisco
ALUM ROCK, CALIF. — A moderate earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay area Tuesday night, but there was no immediate word on any damage. The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 and struck shortly after 9 p.m. MDT, about 9 miles northeast of San Jose, according to the U.S. Geological Service.
NAACP questions march on hate crimes
CHARLESTON, W.VA. — The NAACP said Tuesday that it does not support a hate-crime awareness march to raise money for a black woman who says she was tortured by six whites.
Local and national NAACP officials said they disapprove of Saturday’s march organizers, a group based in Washington called Black Lawyers for Justice that wants hate-crime charges brought against the defendants.
Six whites are charged with raping and torturing 20-year-old Megan Williams for days until her Sept. 8 rescue. All could get life sentences in prison if convicted, but the prosecutor has not filed hate-crime charges, saying they could be difficult to prove.
Williams, her family and black leaders such as the Rev. Al Sharpton plan to participate in the march.
The Rev. Audie Murphy, NAACP branch president for Logan and Boone counties, said, “The NAACP is not against hate crimes being charged; we’re just saying we respect the decision of the prosecutor to later on have the freedom to do so.”
Bill aims to require weather radios in mobile homes
WASHINGTON — New manufactured homes would be required to have weather radios to warn occupants of severe storms under legislation that passed the House on Tuesday.
Sponsors said the measure would help prevent deaths from tornadoes that disproportionately occur in manufactured housing, including mobile homes. The bill would require builders to install radios that provide official storm warnings and watches 24 hours a day.
The bill passed by voice vote without opposition. It has not passed the Senate.
Charges sought after sitter let pet make pig of itself
WINONA, MINN. — A woman wants abuse charges filed against an acquaintance who was pet-sitting for her potbellied pig and allowed the animal to get fat.
Michelle Schmitz said her pig, Alaina Templeton, weighed 50 pounds when Schmitz left her in February with a co-worker as Schmitz went on medical leave.
Nine months later, the pig was 150 pounds, and it took veterinarians 4 1/2 hours to surgically remove its collar, the Winona Daily News reported.
Officers are investigating if Alaina was abused by the sitter’s neglect and overfeeding.
