LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Clearlake man arrested this week for setting numerous Lake County fires over the past year – including the Clayton fire – made his first court appearance on the charges on Wednesday afternoon.

Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, was arraigned in Judge Andrew Blum's Department 3 courtroom in Lakeport.

Cal Fire arrested Pashilk for arson for starting not just the Clayton fire – which began Saturday evening near Lower Lake – but 11 other fires, plus one attempted ignition that didn't burn, in and around Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Lower Lake and Middletown since July 2015.

Sheriff Brian Martin said Pashilk was arrested on Monday afternoon during a traffic stop, and taken into custody without incident.

Community members and media from around the region packed Judge Blum's courtroom for Pashilk's eight-minute court appearance.

Sheriff Martin – who was in the courtroom along with his command staff – said there were no issues.

“Everybody was well-behaved in court,” Martin said.

Moments before the proceedings a large thud was heard from the other side of the wall attracting the attention of people inside the courtroom. Before Pashilk entered the courtroom, he had collapsed, Martin said.

Once in the courtroom, Pashilk was seated in the jury box and correctional staff gave him water. When Blum asked him his name, he didn't respond. Attorney David Markham, sitting next to Pashilk, said he had passed out.

When Blum asked if he needed a few minutes, Pashilk said softly that he was fine.

Pashilk, who sat sideways, facing away from the gallery, was dressed in a green and white jail jumpsuit, which Martin said indicates administrative segregation. Due to concerns for his safety, Pashilk is being housed by himself, away from the rest of the inmate population.

On the way to the jail, Pashilk was fitted with a bulletproof vest, Martin said.

While no threats have been made against Pashilk directly since he's been taken into custody, Martin said someone had put up a sign on Hill Road along the route to the courthouse that said, “Damin, burn in hell.”

Judge Blum read through the charges as Pashilk sat silently. District Attorney Don Anderson and Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff were seated at the prosecution table.

“Sir, do you understand the charges?” Blum asked when he had finished reading the document.

No response could be heard from Pashilk. “Is that a yes?” Blum asked, before informing him of his rights, which include a speedy trial, the ability to confront witnesses or to remain silent.

Blum said Pashilk qualified to be represented by a public defender, and assigned Markham to his case.

The prosecution had sought an enhanced bail of $5 million in Pashilk's case, which Judge Stephen Hedstrom approved earlier this week. Hinchcliff asked that the enhanced bail amount be kept in effect.

Citing the severity of the charges and the threat to the public, Blum agreed with the request and left Pashilk's bail at $5 million.

“It's good to know that he's going to be locked up until he receives a fair trial,” Sheriff Martin said following court. “The takeaway should be, let the criminal justice system run its course.”

At Markham's request, Blum scheduled Pashilk to return to court at 8:15 a.m. Sept. 7 in Judge Hedstrom's Department 4 courtroom, at which time he'll enter his plea.

After court, Markham would only say that Pashilk is innocent until proven guilty.

Hinchcliff told Lake County News that he is not aware of any other fires at this point with which Pashilk might be charged.

Not included in the listed counts is a fire involving a house that Pashilk had lived in at one point around 2013, which Pashilk had told investigators about during an interview, Hinchcliff said.

Hinchcliff said he has only a summary so far of the fires Pashilk is believed to have set but does not have the full reports, which he believes could encompass thousands of pages of photos, documentation and evidence. He said investigators also will be conducting followup interviews with individuals.

That additional investigative process could take months to complete, he said.

A trial could come as soon as four months or take place a year and a half from now, Hinchcliff said.

If convicted, Pashilk could face between 24 and 30 years to life in prison, according to Hinchcliff.

Hinchcliff offered his sympathy and best wishes to the fire victims, noting that he's lived in the county since 1966 and knows people who have lost homes in the county's wildland fires.

“It really makes me sick to my stomach to see all of these people going through this,” Hinchcliff said.

Details of the case so far

Authorities believe Pashilk is responsible for setting the Clayton fire on Saturday, the Seigler fire on Aug. 9, several other small fires in July as well as fires last summer.

The charging document alleges 19 counts, including 15 for felony arson with special allegations of causing multiple structures to burn and committing a crime in a disaster area.

Count one, specifically, is for aggravated arson for the Clayton fire. Counts two and three also are arson charges specifically for the Clayton fire, with court documents stating that damage totaled in excess of $7 million.

Earlier this week, Cal Fire had issued a damage estimate of $10 million, but on Wednesday said the agency did not have an updated number.

Count 15 is for an attempted arson this past Aug. 9 on Clayton Creek Road. Case documents said Pashilk's vehicle was spotted in the area, and Cal Fire investigators found a burned matchbook and a small area of burned grass. The fire self-extinguished.

All of the fires listed in the district attorney's filing occurred during fire season's peak months of July and August.

The list of fires Pashilk is charged with setting are as follows, with date, time and location:

– July 2, 2015, 7:32 a.m.: Highway 20 at Judge Davis Trail (“Judge” fire No. 1), Clearlake Oaks;
– July 2, 2015, 7:50 a.m.: Highway 20 at Walker Ridge Road (“Judge” fire No. 2), Clearlake Oaks;
– July 29, 2015, 8:30 p.m.: Highway 20 east of New Long Valley Road (the “Long” fire), Clearlake Oaks;
– Aug. 13, 2015, 11 a.m. : Woodland Drive, Clearlake;
– Aug. 14, 2015, 8:18 p.m.: Sulphur Bank Road, south of North Drive, Clearlake;
– Aug. 25, 2015, 3:47 p.m.: East Lake Drive, Clearlake.
– July 17, 2016, 5:08 p.m.: Crestview Drive and North Drive, Clearlake.
– July 21, 2016, 5:08 p.m.: 18000 block of Morgan Valley Road near Staehle Lane, Lower Lake.
– July 23, 2016, 7:03 p.m.: Western Mine Road, Middletown.
– Aug. 7, 2016 (start time not listed): Highway 29 near mile post marker 16.29, Lower Lake.
– Aug. 9, 2016, 5 p.m.: Seigler Canyon Road, Lower Lake.
– Aug. 9, 2016, 5:25 p.m.: Clayton Creek Road, Lower Lake.
– Aug. 13, 2016, 5:01 p.m.: Clayton fire, Clayton Creek Road, Lower Lake.

Additional misdemeanor counts include methamphetamine possession at the time of his Monday arrest, attempting to conceal evidence – in this case, the methamphetamine – and two counts of driving on a suspended license with three prior convictions for that charge.

The charging document also refers to several previous convictions of Pashilk, including an April 2000 conviction for selling methamphetamine and being armed in the commission of a felony; possession of methamphetamine in March 2006; and his three prior convictions for driving on a suspended license in February and April of 2012 and November of 2015.

Case documents state that Pashilk set fire to roadside grass and brush on 17 separate occasions between July 2, 2015, and Aug. 13, 2016. He is not charged for all of those incidents so far.

In nearly all of those 17 incidents, a vehicle Pashilk was known to drive was captured on video surveillance in the area.

The only occasion that investigators don't specifically reference capturing Pashilk's vehicle on surveillance was on Aug. 13, 2015, on Woodland Drive in Clearlake. A witness saw the driver of a green four-door sedan throw an unknown object out of the vehicle and drive off, with a fire starting in the same location where the object was thrown.

Pashilk has not been connected to the Rocky fire, which began July 29, 2015, and was determined last year to have been caused by a failure of an outdoor gas water heater strapped to a tree near an outbuilding that contained flammable liquids. The water heater was installed near a marijuana grow, Cal Fire said.

The Valley fire, which began on Sept. 12, 2015, was the result of faulty wiring to a Cobb residence's hot tub, according to Cal Fire's investigation, released Aug. 10.

Cal Fire officials told Lake County News no cause has yet been determined for the Jerusalem fire, which began on Aug. 9, 2015.

The investigation in the Pashilk case so far has been a cooperative effort of Cal Fire, the District Attorney's Office and the Lake County Sheriff's Office, officials reported.

Martin said his agency provided support during the investigation. “Our involvement became much more active within the last couple of weeks.”

Responding to questions about the surveillance and investigation, Martin said Pashilk was arrested as soon as authorities had the necessary evidence. He said the appropriate time to make an arrest in a criminal case is when there is enough evidence to support probable cause.

“We only have one shot at this,” Martin said. “If you take your shot too soon you jeopardize bringing somebody to justice who truly needs to be brought to justice.”

On Wednesday, officials said the evidence in the case is strong but the investigation is ongoing and additional details other than those listed in the initial charging documents would not be released.

There were, however, other details about Pashilk's criminal past made available by state correctional officials.

Pashilk is a convicted felon sentenced in Lake County in 2002 to state prison, where he served a five-year term for drug possession and firearm charges, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Corrections officials reported that, before his parole, Pashilk was trained as an inmate firefighter at the California Correctional Facility in Susanville and assigned to Trinity Camp in Lewiston in Trinity County from April 12 to July 5, 2007. He was released to parole on July 25, 2007.

Since he originally was released on parole in 2007, Pashilk was taken back into custody six times for parole violations, but did not serve again as a firefighter, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported.

Pashilk was last discharged from state correctional jurisdiction on Aug. 23, 2011, according to state officials.

While Pashilk was making his court appearance Wednesday, firefighters from around the state were continuing their work to fully contain the fire.

They've held the fire to no new growth since Monday night, with the size estimate rolling back slightly to 3,929 acres. On Wednesday evening the fire's containment was at 50 percent.

Cal Fire's damage estimate climbed on Wednesday, with assessments putting the total number of structures destroyed at 268. Of those, 175 were single-family homes, eight were commercial structures, and the remaining 85 were structures such as sheds and other, smaller outbuildings.

The fire remained active on Wednesday, with Cal Fire reporting that 316 structures were still threatened.

However, some residents of the fire area have been allowed to go home. Evacuation orders have been lifted for the Avenues area of Clearlake and for a portion of Lower Lake, accessed from Spruce Grove Road, east of Highway 29, the sheriff's office said.

Resources assigned to the incident on Wednesday evening included approximately 2,088 personnel, of which 340 are inmate firefighters, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

A total of 1,734 state corrections inmates are working fire lines throughout California, the state reported.

As Pashilk's court appearance was wrapping up, reports from the fire scene indicated an inmate firefighter assigned to the Clayton fire was having a cardiac emergency and had to be transported from the fire line.

The Clayton fire is anticipated to be fully contained by Sunday, Cal Fire said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – While firefighters continue to progress toward fully containing the Clayton fire, Pacific Gas and Electric said it's still engaged in the process of restoring power to community members who live in the fire area.
 
Early Wednesday, PG&E reported that approximately 622 customers in the fire area remained without power.

Company spokesman Denny Boyles said many of those customers continued experiencing an outage because Cal Fire has asked the company to de-energize lines for firefighters' safety.

Boyles said PG&E completed its damage assessment in the fire area on Tuesday.

“The damage to our equipment is less than we expected,” he said. “We are working safely and as quickly as possible to make repairs.”

Overall, PG&E assessed 772 poles, finding that 77 of them needed to be replaced. So far, PG&E crews have replaced four of those damaged poles, Boyles said.

Boyles said the company also determined that 69 spans of wire need to be replaced.

He said PG&E expects to restore power to all customers who can be restored by this weekend.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Cal Fire said that the evacuation order for a portion of Lower Lake that resulted from the Clayton fire is to be lifted as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The order is being lifted for areas accessed from Spruce Grove Road, east of Highway 29, including all of Clayton Creek Road, Cal Fire said.

Cal Fire said road closures in Lower Lake that remain in effect include Main Street, east of the junction of Highway 53 and Highway 29, and Lake Street, south of Dam Road.

The area had been under an evacuation order since the fire started on Saturday.

On Wednesday the fire was reported to be 3,929 acres, with containment at 40 percent, according to Cal Fire.

Cal Fire estimates the fire will be fully contained on Sunday. 

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In an effort to secure the Clayton fire area while residents are evacuated, law enforcement has significantly bulked up patrols, which has resulted in a number of arrests.

Last year, when thousands of residents were evacuated from the Rocky, Jerusalem and Valley fire areas, there had been numerous reports of looting and people being in the fire areas in violation of the mandatory evacuation orders. Ultimately, very few of those reports turned into arrests and prosecutions.

However, with those same concerns in mind, Sheriff Brian Martin, who declared a local emergency on Sunday due to the Clayton fire, made a mutual aid request to agencies around the region for 14 additional officers and deputies for each 12-hour shift this week to help his deputies patrol the fire area.

Martin said those saturation patrols quickly got in place, and have been working to keep people out of the fire area who don't belong there.

Likewise, in the city of Clearlake, it has been all hands on deck, according to Lt. Tim Celli, the acting chief.

With all officers called in to work, Celli said resources had been exhausted. As a result, the Clearlake Police Department made a mutual aid request to the Office of Emergency Services. Local agencies responded to assist.

He said the Lakeport Police Department, California Highway Patrol, the sheriff's office, State Parks and Lake County District Attorney's Office investigators had sent personnel to help with the around-the-clock patrols in the portion of the Avenues section of the city that had been ordered evacuated.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said they sent five units to assist on Sunday. He was among the officers who helped with the patrols in the city, noting that his agency has since gone back to its normal operations due to more agencies coming on board to assist.

As of early Wednesday morning, authorities had arrested 13 individuals for entering an evacuated area, based on a review of arrest reports.

Among those individuals was a parolee found in possession of burglary tools, Celli said. The man claimed to live in the Avenues but couldn't provide police with an address.

Celli said there were additional arrests during that time for issues such as outstanding warrants.

Those additional fire-related calls are on top of the estimated 500 calls that Celli said the Clearlake Police Department handles weekly.

Lt. Steve Brooks said the sheriff's office hasn't made any looting arrests so far, but people have been taken into custody for other issues.

In one case, a State Parks officer pulled up to check a man slumped over at the wheel of a cable television vehicle that was parked off of Dam Road, Brooks said.

Brooks said the officer pounded on the window several times trying to get the driver's attention. As the officer watched the man, he thought his breathing had stopped.

“The officer was able to get the door open and the fight was on for no reason,” said Brooks.

The State Parks officer suffered numerous abrasions during the fight but eventually took the man into custody. It was believed that the man who was arrested was under the influence of some kind of substance.

Celli, who since the fire started has been throughout the portion of the Avenues that had been evacuated – which included St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, Woodland Community College's Lake County Campus, Walmart and the Cache Creek Apartments – said no structures were damaged in the city.

On Tuesday afternoon the mandatory evacuation order for the Avenues – from Highway 53 from Polk Avenue south to Cache Creek – was lifted and people were allowed to return home there. At that point, Lake Street remained closed.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. –  St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, which was evacuated on Sunday and closed temporarily due to the Clayton fire, will resume patient care services at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

On Tuesday the California Department of Public Health cleared the hospital to resume service after a full survey of the hospital facility and all operations, according to hospital spokeswoman Cambria Wheeler.

Wheeler said the hospital did not sustain any damage in the fire and will be fully staffed to provide patient care in all areas, including the emergency department.

“We are able to open the hospital to the community thanks to the incredible work of first responders, hospital staff, our many partners and CDPH,” said David Santos, the hospital's president and chief executive officer. “We are proud to continue our mission of sharing God’s love through mental, physical and spiritual healing in this resilient community as we rebuild together.”

The hospital, which is located within the evacuation area on 18th Avenue in Clearlake, received evacuation orders from fire officials at approximately 2:35 p.m. Sunday and 17 patients were evacuated to Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport, as Lake County News has reported.

Wheeler said hospital incident command remained on-site with staff to monitor safety and prepare to resume service.

In total, patient care service at the hospital will have been interrupted for approximately 64 hours during the Clayton Fire evacuation, Wheeler reported.

Sutter Lakeside Hospital spokeswoman Morgen Wells said that hospital absorbed 15 patients from St. Helena on Sunday. 

“The California Department of Public Health approved surge capacity to accommodate the influx of patients, however, we are back to normal inpatient census,” she said.

As for impacts from the fire and St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake's temporary closure, Wells noted, “We have noticed increased utilization of our Emergency Department and have responded with the appropriate increase of staff. Providers, nurses, ancillary services, and support staff are all contributing to the increased need, and we continue to prioritize quality care.”
 
Four of St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake’s primary care clinics opened as scheduled beginning Monday to provide care to the community, including Clayton fire evacuees, Wheeler said. Additional outpatient services, including physical therapy and cardiopulmonary care, also welcomed patients.

The Konocti Wellness Center located on the campus of Lower Lake High School remains closed, Wheeler said.

“St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake plays an important role in in the health of our county,” said Lake County Health Officer Karen Tait, MD. “There was fantastic cooperation between our two local hospitals to safely care for patients during this emergency. Having St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake back in service will be a welcome return to normal access to care.”