{"id":3690,"date":"2026-07-26T05:35:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T05:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=3690"},"modified":"2026-07-26T05:35:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T05:35:40","slug":"man-who-caused-park-fire-one-of-the-largest-in-california-history-convicted-of-arson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=3690","title":{"rendered":"Man who caused Park fire, one of the largest in California history, convicted of arson"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>It was a blistering day in Butte County when a man revved his wheels in dry grass until a spark ignited, then pushed the flaming vehicle down a 60-foot hill.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=3688\">Southern China drenched as Typhoon Noul makes landfall<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Whipped by strong winds amid 100-plus degree temperatures, that spark grew into California\u2019s fourth-largest wildfire on record, ultimately scorching some 429,000 acres and destroying 427 homes.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>On Friday &#8211; two years to the day since the devastating Park fire ignited &#8211; a judge found Ronnie Stout guilty of purposefully starting the blaze. The 44-year-old Chico man faces 25 years to life and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 9, according to the Butte County district attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Butte County Superior Court Judge Kristen Lucena found him guilty of felony arson with multiple enhancements, including that he caused the destruction of multiple residential structures and is a \u201cthree-strike\u201d offender. Stout had waived his right to a jury trial, opting instead to let Lucena decide his fate.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In 2001, he was convicted of molesting a Butte County child under 14 and served a year in jail. The following year, he was convicted of robbery and causing great bodily injury in Kern County and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Then, while on parole for the robbery sentence in 2020, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence near Upper Bidwell Park in Chico.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>And on July 24, 2024, Lucena ruled, he started the largest wildfire caused by arson in California history.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Stout started the day back in Upper Bidwell Park by drunkenly harassing bathers at the Bear Hole swimming area, prosecutors said. Witnesses testified in court that they then saw him recklessly driving his 2007 Toyota Yaris down the dirt and gravel near Upper Park Road toward Chico.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>As he approached the Alligator Hole swimming area, his vehicle slid off the road and became stuck on a mound of dirt 60 feet above a gully near Big Chico Creek, witnesses said. He attempted to free the car by alternating between forward and reverse, repeatedly revving his engine as his tires spun in the surrounding grass and brush.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=3686\">Iran war spreads to Red Sea and Caspian, Gulf quiet as US forgoes strikes<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>It was a red flag day with triple-digit temperatures and a strong, dry wind blowing from the south. Vegetation was parched by multiple sweltering days.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>From a wildfire perspective, it was the perfect storm.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Heat from the vehicle caused the dry brush to ignite under the car, according to testimony from California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Battalion Chief Matt Palade.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A woman testified that she saw Stout get out of the flaming car and push it over the dirt mound, where it rolled down the embankment and ignited the dry vegetation at the bottom. The woman told the judge she then saw Stout blend into the crowd of people rushing to evacuate from the Alligator Hole swimming area.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>She snapped photos of him fleeing the scene and posted them on social media. Multiple other witnesses who were in the area that day saw the photos, recognized Stout and contacted CalFire.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Around three hours later, Palade testified that he contacted Stout by phone. He appeared free of remorse, repeatedly asking, \u201cWhat did I do wrong, bro?\u201d Palade said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>He was arrested the following day at his mother\u2019s home in Chico and has been in custody ever since.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=3684\">The best fast food chain in the US for 2026 has only one SC restaurant. Here\u2019s where<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>_____<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><i>Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was a blistering day in Butte County when a man revved his wheels in dry grass until a spark igni&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Man who caused Park fire, one of the largest in California history, convicted of arson - US Moving Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=3690\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Man who caused Park fire, one of the largest in California history, convicted of arson - US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was a blistering day in Butte County when a man revved his wheels in dry grass until a spark igni...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=3690\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-26T05:35:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\"},\"headline\":\"Man who caused Park fire, one of the largest in California history, convicted of arson\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-26T05:35:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690\"},\"wordCount\":603,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/7a9e63e5d360f185c570868364a09479.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"National\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690\",\"name\":\"Man who caused Park fire, one of the largest in California history, convicted of arson - US Moving Experts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/7a9e63e5d360f185c570868364a09479.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-26T05:35:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=3690#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/7a9e63e5d360f185c570868364a09479.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/7a9e63e5d360f185c570868364a09479.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Thick smoke from the Park fire on Aug. 7, 2024, was expected to increase humidity and slightly cool active parts of the Northern California wildfire. 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