Bully Fire
Date(s)	July 11, 2014 (2014-07-11) – July 26, 2014 (2014-07-26)
Location	Shasta County, California
Coordinates	40°25′53″N 122°45′03″W / 40.4314°N 122.750788°W / 40.4314; -122.750788
Statistics [1] [2] [3]
Burned area	12,661 acres (51 km2)
Impacts
Deaths	1
Non-fatal injuries	21
Structures destroyed	20
Map
Location of fire in Northern California

The Bully Fire was a wildfire in Shasta County. ^[1]

It started on July 11, 2014 at 3:37 PM PDT. The fire quickly spread to 700 acres (2.8 km²), and it was only 5% contained. During the next day, dry weather coupled with a heat wave allowed to fire to advance to 1,800 acres (7.3 km²), prompting mandatory evacuations to be issued for the region, as well as several miles of road closures. During the next few days, the wildfire exploded to 8,700 acres (35 km²), prompting additional evacuations, since the wildfire was only 25% contained. A couple of days later, the Bully Fire reached 11,700 acres (47 km²), but the containment also increased to 45%. By July 18, the wildfire had expanded further to 12,661 acres (5,124 ha), with the containment only at 65%. During the next few days, containment gradually increased to 95%, before progress stalled on July 22.

However, the increase in containment allowed the road closures and the evacuation orders to be lifted. During the next 4 days, firefighting efforts continued slowly to extinguish the Bully Fire, until full containment of the perimeter was achieved on July 26, at 8:00 PM PDT. Fire patrols lingered for the next couple of days to work on extinguishing the blaze, and on July 28, the Bully Fire was reported to be 100% controlled. ^[1]

During its duration, the Bully Fire destroyed a total of 20 residential structures. ^{[1] [2] [3]} A total of 21 injuries and 1 death ^{[2] [3]} were also reportedly caused by the fire, which was determined to be human-caused. ^[1]

In 2016, Freddie Alexander Smoke III was arrested by police in Indiana and extradited to Shasta County. ^[2] He pleaded no contest to charges of arson and involuntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to five years in prison and restitution. ^[3]

References