[PRpond. Img: Courtesy of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department -- Jacob Place and Maxwell Goldsworthy, both 18 and from El Dorado Hills]
Two El Dorado Hills men have been arrested and charged with recklessly causing the fire that burned nearly 1,300 acres near Rancho Murieta last week, Cal Fire announced Friday afternoon.
The fire, called the Latrobe Fire, ignited around 2:45 p.m. July 26 near Latrobe Road and Scott Road. The blaze burned for several days and was 100 percent contained by Friday afternoon.
Cal Fire enforcement officers, working with the Sacramento County district attorney's office, announced Thursday's arrest of Jacob Place and Maxwell Goldsworthy, both 18. The Sheriff's Department website says the two were released Friday.
Brice Bennett, an information officer for Cal Fire, said the two are charged with unlawfully causing a fire, a felony.
He said the two were burning illegal materials off Latrobe Road, but he wouldn't specify what the materials were.
Asked for any particulars of the fire – if, for example, it was a bonfire – Bennett said, "It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon or so, near a hundred-degree day, so who needs to be having a bonfire?"
"Rural road systems are not an area where individuals should gather and hang out and socialize," Cal Fire spokesperson Brice Bennett said. "This is an area that's unsafe for these activities and it's just not a good idea."
Cal Fire has issued several citations to people who are now being investigated by the district attorney's office.
"Make the right decision: Don't burn illegal materials, don't partake in illegal activities," Bennett said.
Both teens have been released from the Sacramento County jail.
