Man Arrested as Fire Burns 2,000 Acres
A fire had burned 2,000 acres near the town of Mariposa on Monday, and a 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of starting the fire with a match inserted in a cigarette.
Brian Chambers also is suspected in a string of other intentionally set fires in Mariposa over the last two weeks, officials said.
All the schools closed, and about 300 homes in the town of 1,400 residents in the western Sierra Nevada were evacuated.
Meanwhile, a brush fire burned across a rural stretch of the Mexico border, prompting San Diego County authorities to close a state highway and evacuate several residents.
Fire broke out about 11 a.m. on the Mexican side near Tecate.
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