The news came as firefighters continued to get a handle on the massive fire, the third largest in California history. It was 80% contained and wasn't expected to be fully under control for another two weeks.
The U.S. Forest Service said Thursday that the hunter started an illegal fire that got out of control.
The fire was not started by a marijuana growing operation, despite rumors to the contrary, the U.S. Forest Service’s investigation unit and the Tuolumne County district attorney’s office concluded. The hunter has been identified and his name is being withheld pending further investigation, officials said.
The Rim fire began Aug. 17 near Jawbone Ridge in the Stanislaus National Forest north of the Tuolumne River off California 120.
It has burned 237,341 acres, or 370 square miles. About a quarter of the fire – and where it continues to spread – is within Yosemite National Park. More than 5,100 firefighters were battling the flames at their peak.
On Aug. 23, McNeal said the fire started in a section of the Stanislaus National Forest that is inaccessible by foot or vehicle and that it was "highly suspected" that a "marijuana-grow type of thing" had somehow sparked the blaze.
But Snyder said that at this point in their review, investigators have not found any evidence that marijuana was grown in the area where the fire probably started.
There would also have been no real access for growers, Snyder said, and there was no probable water source evident.
"Most of these gardens, they need access ... they need to be able to get in there ... and there are no roads in this area," Snyder said. "You need a water source ... this fire started considerably above the river."
The Rim fire has destroyed 111 buildings, including 11 residences. It has so far cost $72 million to fight.
Forest Service: Huge wildfire near Yosemite caused by hunter’s illegal fire
Updated: Thursday, September 5, 2013 3:37 PM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A gigantic wildfire in and around Yosemite National Park was caused by an illegal fire set by a hunter, the U.S. Forest Service said Thursday.
The agency said there is no indication the hunter was involved with illegal marijuana cultivation, which a local fire chief had speculated as the possible cause of the blaze.
No arrests have been made, and the hunter’s name was being withheld pending further investigation, according to the Forest Service. The only legal hunting allowed at the time the fire started Aug. 17 was archery for bear and deer.
A Forest Service statement gave no details on how the illegal fire in a remote canyon of the Stanislaus National Forest had escaped the hunter’s control.
Because of high fire danger across the region, the Forest Service had banned fires outside of developed camping areas more than a week before the fire started.
The Rim Fire has burned nearly 371 square miles — one of the largest wildfires in California history and has cost $81 million to fight.
In some cases people who have started wildfires in California have been sued to pay for the costs and damages.
Forest Service spokesman Ray Mooney said he was not immediately able to get more information from investigators. The Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office also assisted in the investigation, but declined to comment.
Officials said 111 structures, including 11 homes, have been destroyed. Thousands of firefighters were called in to battle the blaze, which at one point threatened more than 4,000 structures,
The blaze is now 80 percent contained.
Chief Todd McNeal of the Twain Harte Fire Department told a community group recently that there was no lightning in the area, so the fire must have been caused by humans. He said he suspected it might have caused by an illicit marijuana growing operation.
California’s largest fire on record, a 2003 blaze in the Cleveland National Forest east of San Diego, was sparked by a novice deer hunter who became lost and set a signal fire in hope of being rescued.
Sergio Martinez was sentenced to six months in a work-furlough program, 960 hours of community service and five years of probation in 2005.
The so-called Cedar Fire burned nearly 430 square miles, caused 15 deaths and destroyed more than 2,200 homes.
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