Man arrested in deadly arson
A 29-year-old Tulare man was arrested last week on suspicion of starting three small wildfires in September that burned in a remote canyon and led to a plane crash in which two people were killed.
Patrick Courtney is expected to face homicide and arson charges, according to a statement from the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
A forestry department plane scouting a fire in a wooded area about 170 miles north of Los Angeles crashed in the foothills of Tulare County on Sept. 6, killing Battalion Chief Robert Paul Stone and pilot George “Sandy” Willett.
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