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Man accused of starting N. California wildfire

FILE - In this July 11, 2014 photo, a member of an inmate firefighting crew works on the Bully fire near Ono, Calif. A 27-year-old man who was allegedly at an illegal marijuana plot is suspected of starting a wildfire that has burned about 6 square miles of forested land in northern California. Freddie Alexander Smoke III was arrested Saturday, July 12, 2014 and accused of recklessly causing a fire and with marijuana cultivation, both felonies, according to the California Department of Fire and Forestry Protection. The so-called Bully fire has since grown to 3,700 acres and destroyed six structures, CalFire officials said. The blaze, which is burning in steep terrain, was just 10 percent contained Sunday morning. (AP Photo/The Record Searchlight, Greg Barnette)
FILE - In this July 11, 2014 photo, a member of an inmate firefighting crew works on the Bully fire near Ono, Calif. A 27-year-old man who was allegedly at an illegal marijuana plot is suspected of starting a wildfire that has burned about 6 square miles of forested land in northern California. Freddie Alexander Smoke III was arrested Saturday, July 12, 2014 and accused of recklessly causing a fire and with marijuana cultivation, both felonies, according to the California Department of Fire and Forestry Protection. The so-called Bully fire has since grown to 3,700 acres and destroyed six structures, CalFire officials said. The blaze, which is burning in steep terrain, was just 10 percent contained Sunday morning. (AP Photo/The Record Searchlight, Greg Barnette) FILE - In this July 11, 2014 photo, a member of an inmate firefighting crew works on the Bully fire near Ono, Calif. A 27-year-old man who was allegedly at an illegal marijuana plot is suspected of starting a wildfire that has burned about 6 square miles of forested land in northern California. Freddie Alexander Smoke III was arrested Saturday, July 12, 2014 and accused of recklessly causing a fire and with marijuana cultivation, both felonies, according to the California Department of Fire and Forestry Protection. The so-called Bully fire has since grown to 3,700 acres and destroyed six structures, CalFire officials said. The blaze, which is burning in steep terrain, was just 10 percent contained Sunday morning. (AP Photo/The Record Searchlight, Greg Barnette)

By Associated Press 2 min read

REDDING, Calif. (AP) – A 27-year-old man who was allegedly at an illegal marijuana plot is suspected of starting a wildfire that has burned about 6 square miles of forested land in Northern California.

Freddie Alexander Smoke III was arrested Saturday and accused of recklessly causing a fire and with marijuana cultivation, both felonies, according to the California Department of Fire and Forestry Protection.

The agency said he was delivering material to the pot site in Shasta County when the exhaust from his truck ignited dry grass.

The so-called Bully fire has since grown to 3,700 acres and destroyed six structures, CalFire officials said. The blaze, which is burning in steep terrain, was just 10 percent contained Sunday morning.

More than 1,000 firefighters, aided by aircraft, are battling the blaze in hot, dry conditions.