On Tuesday, August 7, an area named ‘Holy Jim’ was caught on fire for an unknown reason.

It the fire was carried by current, burning everything on its path. Since it’s so dry during summer in California, nothing could stop a devastating fire like this. The fire caused million dollars of damage, and hundreds had to evacuate.

Police started an investigation and figured that this fire was not naturally caused. It was a mid-age person named Forrest Gordon Clark who was responsible for this fire. He was arrested for two charges in August, for terrorizing and resisting police officers.

As he was arrested and investigated, police found evidence that he was responsible for the holy fire.

Officers heard many rumors about the suspect in that area. Milligan, the chief of fire department, said he ran into Clark numerous time. He claimed that he had seen Clark having a fight with his neighbors numerous times. This has proven that he had bad relationships with people around him.

“Not only that, I’ve seen him running around the town center, yelling there will be a fire,” Milligan said. He also claimed that he had received an email warning about a fire in the near future from Clark himself.

“When I saw him getting arrested, I had no doubt it was him. This wouldn’t have happened if they listened to me.”

Clark was arrested for two charges; starting the fire and resisting officers. He had his first court session, however, he refused to leave his cell, postponing his court to Friday. Judging from this action, people say he knows what he has done, and refusing to admit it.

“He might have some kind of mental health issues,” says Junho, “The smoke in the sky is decreasing air condition in Irvine! I’m not affected by the fire directly, but this would cause serious long term issue for some people.”

It seemed that even people weren’t directly influenced, they are still having trouble from it. “This guy caused fire just for his revenge I think,” David Lee said, who lives near Irvine. “Think about all the properties he destroyed, think about all the people who are suffering because of him. He should be punished which strong charges.”

<Youngjin Son /Portola HS 11th Grade>