Man in Dixie Fire evacuation zone arrested. He allegedly set piles on fire, refused to leave

A homeowner was arrested near Taylorsville on Sunday morning on suspicion of refusing to leave despite mandatory evacuation orders put in place due to the nearby Dixie Fire and for allegedly setting fires on his property.

In a news release, the Quincy-area California Highway Patrol unit said that David Leland Hyde was taken into custody at his home on the 2400 block of Genesee Road about 5:30 a.m.

A fire division chief told California National Guard personnel at an evacuation checkpoint on Arlington Road west of China Grade Road just before 5:15 a.m. that a homeowner at the property was setting fires and not letting fire personnel extinguish them. The fires were deemed unsafe due to the presence of dry fuels in the surrounding area.

Two CHP officers were dispatched to the property, where they found Hyde and determined that he had been notified of the mandatory Dixie Fire evacuation orders, which included his property, a total of three times, according to CHP officials.

Quincy CHP said that Hyde, equipped with a garden hose, was located near two burning piles and tried to block fire personnel from entering a wood area of his property where the fires were burning by stepping in front of fire hoses and spraying firefighters with his own hose.

He was placed under arrest, booked into the Plumas County jail and charged with entering or remaining in an evacuation zone.