Man in custody in Chelan Hills Fire - Sheriff: 'We have other suspects to arrest'
A two month investigation into how the wildfire that burned nearly 10,000 acres in the Chelan Hills and McNeil Canyon this summer was started, has led to the arrest of an arson suspect.
Michael Yakimov, 18, of Kent was taken into custody at mid-day Wednesday, following some expert investigative work on behalf of Douglas County Sheriff’s detectives.
"They were relentless, tenacious, and driven to help bring resolution to this tragic accident," Douglas County Sheriff Tyler Caille told KOZI. "They've been burning the midnight oil to try to bring this closure, which today was the first step in that. Detectives researched every bit of information they had. They made several trips over to the westside of the state following up on different leads, speaking to different folks. They developed probable cause to where they drove to Kent and made the arrest of what we're calling the primary suspect."
"They still have more work to do," the sheriff added. "We still have other suspects that they're (detectives) going to be seeking to arrest," Caille shared.
"Nothing we do will bring back the loss of Mr. Lister's life (Robert Lister of Orondo) who unfortunately passed away because of this fire," said Caille. "It doesn't replace the homes lost, the property, the personal affects. I would hope it does bring at least one level of closure to everybody that was affected by this fire."
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The Chelan Hills Fire continues to smolder with close to 10,000 acres charred.
The fire, which started July 4, has left at least one person dead, destroying 19 homes, included in an initial assessment of an estimated 25 structures that have been damaged.
The fire wiped out the Hobbit Inn, the underground vacation rental located on the hills above Orondo.
Douglas County Sheriff Tyler Caille says the fire is being investigated as human-caused.
"We're now transitioning to assessments and recovery efforts. But then we also have to have the criminal investigation that has to run concurrently with this. And I can tell you all our investigators are working tirelessly. This is something that we will not give up on and we will find whoever is responsible for this fire and bring them to justice," said Caille.
"There’s the criminal aspect of the degree on how the fire was started. Whether it was in a reckless manner or intentional. With the loss of life, now we’re on the realm of manslaughter," the sheriff added. "Once the case investigation is completed and subjects are taken into custody, it’ll be up to the Douglas County prosecutor to make that final determination. Those would be the tertiary items that we would start at a criminal level."
A first hand account of the Chelan Hills burn from Mountain Springs Road resident Chris Urner, who shared, "I've never lived through anything like this."
"I can't believe what I'm seeing right now," said Urner, upon returning to his property after being evacuated. "Our house and our shop is standing. I don't know how our house made it. I set up like a $10 sprinkler in front of our house and it's the only place that didn't get burnt and it didn't allow our house to burn down. This is crazy."
Urner assisted in rescuing three sheep from a neighbors property, shuttling them into his trailer as he left the property.
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