MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — More than a dozen homeowners who evacuated during a devastating California wildfire returned to find their homes had been burglarized, authorities said.
At least six people were arrested on suspicion of looting or planning to loot homes after the wildfire that started Sept. 12, destroying 1,300 homes and killing four people in Lake County.
Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Brooks told The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat on Thursday that 14 homeowners reported burglaries.
One burglar broke into a home and spray-painted a car in the garage to make it look like a police vehicle, so the thief could get away easier, Brooks said.
The wildfire north of San Francisco was 97 percent contained after burning more than 118 square miles and sending thousands of people fleeing homes.
Residents and businesses in the county have filed more than 2,100 claims involving the fire, Madison Voss, a spokesman for the California Department of Insurance, said.
Residents and business owners in another deadly blaze in Amador and Calaveras counties have filed nearly 1,100 claims, Voss said.
That fire started Sept. 9 and was 100 percent contained after killing two men, destroying nearly 500 homes and blackening nearly 111 square miles.
Voss said it would take time to put a dollar amount on losses and damages in both fires.