Man arrested in connection with Sunday's three Lake Tahoe area fires

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - One man has been arrested in connection with three suspicious fires in the Echo Peak and Echo Lakes area on July 5, 2020. The fires, the Echo Fire, the Upper Fire, and the Lake Fire, appear to have been intentionally started.

According to court documents obtained by South Tahoe Now, a long-time local resident spotted a stream of smoke coming from the top of Echo Peak at 3:23 a.m. on Sunday, July 5. He called in the information and hiked up with his sister. They found a large dead tree on a steep slope engulfed in flames which they doused with sand.

They also came across the suspect, Douglas Gregory Edwards, age 34. The witnesses described the then unidentified man as "African-American male with a mustache who appeared to be in his twenties, wearing a thick insulated jacket, beanie hat, scarf, tightly fitted jeans, and black work boots with brown laces tied around his legs, standing and passively watching the fire from a flat landing area located above the slope from where the fire was burning."

When the USFS fire crews arrived at 8:13 a.m., they too saw who they thought to be Edwards leaving the area at that time. After ensuring the fire was out, crews picked up evidence such as plastic bags, food wrappers, and cigarette butts. This was dubbed the Echo Fire.

At 9:15 a.m., agents at the Echo Fire Incident Command Center observed smoke approximately 500 feet up the ridgeline in an area with short brush and trees. They reached the fire by 9:30 a.m. where it was approximately thirty feet by thirty feet in size. More of the same type of trash was found at this fire as well according to court papers. Investigators were also able to obtain boot impressions from the soil. The fire was identified as the Upper Fire and was contained at approximately 4:28 p.m. with the assistance of water drops from aircraft.

At approximately 12:07 p.m., another large plume of smoke was reported to the USFS
from an individual at Fallen Leaf Campground. It was directly north from where the first two fires were located. Due to the remote location of this third fire and the limited access and fire resources in the area, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol launched their aircraft to assist. This fire, identified as the Lake Fire, was reported when it was approximately one-tenth of an acre with moderate spread from the wind and steep terrain.

Each of the three fires began within less than half a mile of one another. Access to the area is limited, with the quickest access to the area of the fires being via boat and then hiking up several miles to the top of a mountain, or via a longer hike along a closed USFS road from the edge of the wilderness boundary.

At approximately 12:51 p.m., the local woman from the first fire observed the same male individual she had come into contact with. She saw him walking along the Pacific Crest Trail, took a photo and contacted USFS Law Enforcement.

At approximately 2:14 p.m., El Dorado County Sheriff's Detective Damian Frisby and others in the California Highway Patrol helicopter located Edwards from the air. From the air they ordered the suspect, who was now between Angora Peak and Echo Peak, to stop and sit down and he complied. Law enforcement then landed the helicopter and approached and detained Edwards.

In his first court appearance on July 7, Edwards was appointed an attorney and a Detention Hearing is set for Thursday. He is currently under a federal hold in Sacramento and not eligible for bail at this time. Edwards said his hometown is Berkeley. This matter is under investigation by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the USFS.