Father and son accused of causing Caldor Fire make first appearance in El Dorado court
A father and son accused of causing the Caldor Fire that burned over 200,000 acres in three counties were arraigned Friday afternoon in El Dorado Superior Court.
David Scott Smith, 66, of Somerset, and his son, Travis Shane Smith, 32, of Folsom, were arrested Wednesday and have been held at the El Dorado County Jail since then. Their bail amount was set at $1 million each.
The Smiths, wearing orange inmate uniforms, remained at the jail for Friday’s hearing and appeared in court via an online video teleconferencing call. The defendants spoke briefly during the hearing, only telling the judge they waived their right to a preliminary hearing in a timely manner.
Attorneys representing the father and son entered not guilty pleas on their behalf, along with denying all enhancements included in their charges.
Linda Parisi, a Sacramento attorney representing David Smith, asked the judge to schedule a bail review hearing for the court to determine whether the defendants will remain in custody as their case proceeds and what should be their bail amount.
Judge Mark A. Ralphs scheduled the bail review hearing for Monday afternoon and ordered the defendants’ bail to remain set at $1 million until the judge can hear arguments from attorneys on the matter.
Parisi spoke to news reporters outside the courtroom after the hearing. She said it’s incredibly important for the criminal justice to operate in this case as it’s designed, “and that is not to rush to judgment.”
“I understand how emotional this event was, how difficult it was for this community. My client and his son, his family, they all live in this community. They love this community,” Parisi said. “They are completely innocent, had no intention or involved in any setting of a fire. This is their home, as well. And they look forward to the opportunity to prove their innocence in this matter.”
The Caldor Fire burned 221,835 acres in El Dorado, Amador and Alpine counties. The blaze erupted Aug. 14 near Grizzly Flat in El Dorado County before spreading east and forced the evacuation of South Lake Tahoe. At one point around the end of August, about 50,000 were displaced as flames continued to burn for nearly two months.
Calls to report the wildfire
Parisi said her client’s son saw a fire, and he called and cooperated with law enforcement. She said the Smiths have continued to cooperate with law enforcement since they made contact with them in August.
Sacramento attorney Mark Reichel, who is representing Travis Smith, also appeared in court Friday via the online video teleconferencing call. He said Travis Smith is an electrician who was with his father near the site of the fire’s origin east of Omo Ranch and south of Grizzly Flat and saw the flames, then called 911 to report it.
Reichel said his client “clearly states that he did not set the fire. He only called it in.” The attorney said the younger Smith called 911 repeatedly because the call kept dropping in the rugged, remote terrain, and that the men warned other campers they saw of the danger.
Prosecutors have charged David Smith with three felony counts of recklessly causing a fire that burned structures and forestland and causing injuries, according to a criminal complaint filed in court Thursday by the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office. His charges include enhancements for allegedly injuring emergency personnel, causing multiple structures to burn and doing so during a state of emergency declared by Gov. Gavin Newsom because of the severe drought.
Travis Smith is charged with recklessly causing a fire that injured three people, recklessly causing a fire that burned an inhabited structure and recklessly causing a fire that burned forest lands. His charges include enhancements for injuring emergency personnel, causing multiple structures to burn and committing the offenses during a state of emergency.
The criminal complaint also alleges that Travis Smith converted a firearm into a machine gun and possessed a silencer. The complaint does not directly tie possession of the machine gun to the fire, but alleges that between Aug. 9 and Aug. 14 Travis Smith converted a firearm into a machine gun and that between Aug. 11 and Sept. 23 he and his father possessed a silencer.
One source has told The Sacramento Bee the father and son were in the area riding in a dune buggy when they spotted the fire. Investigators have been probing whether the blaze may have been sparked by target shooting, two sources have said.
Parisi said she has no idea of the prosecution’s theory as to how the fire was started and she’s still waiting for prosecutors to hand over their discovery evidence. She said the Smiths kept calling authorities to report the fire after their calls kept dropping and were notifying other people of the blaze.
“That’s not the conduct of somebody who’s behaving recklessly. That’s responsible conduct, trying to stop this fire,” Parisi told reporters. “As I said, they’ve lived here all their lives, this is their community. They don’t want to set it on fire.”
She said the Smith family was among the tens of thousands who were evacuated because of the fire. She said she believes the fire did not damage their homes, but she wasn’t certain. The attorney said she thinks her client and his son were identified as suspects solely because they were the ones who called in to report the fire.
“I’m sure there’s a significant amount of pressure to identify someone. That’s not the purpose of the criminal justice system, to just identify someone,” Parisi said. “As we can see, there’s significant attention on this case. But it is so important that we behave properly and make sure that justice is served and their innocence is established.”
