The California Rim Wildfire‘s cause is finally known and U.S. Forest Services are saying a hunter is to blame. About 80% contained as of today, the fire has blazed its way into the California record books as the state’s fifth-largest all time scorching tens of thousands of Yosemite National Park along the way. Until today the cause of the fire remained unknown to park and fire officials.

 

According to the Forest Service, a rogue “hunter’s illegal fire that escaped” set the fire ablaze that at one point charred 237,000 acres of earth (about 370 square miles), larger than the sprawling metropolises of New York City, San Diego, and Indianapolis.

The hunter in question has yet to be identified by authorities.

Despite the amount of land that has been consumed by the Rim Fire, CNN notes that luckily “it has so far had little or no direct impact on Yosemite Valley, a popular spot for tourists and home to many of the park’s iconic attractions, including the El Capitan rock formation.”

As for the fate of the assailant who ignited the Rim Fire, I reached out to the U.S. Forest Service to see what the appropriate penalty is for committing such a crime as well as the legal proceedings that will take place upon his/her being placed into custody but have yet to hear back.

At one point in August, more than 62 fire crews, consisting of more than 3,600 firefighters, were called to the scene to help contain the seemingly endless heat in an attempt to spare the region’s natural wildlife including sequoias, which are some of the largest and longest-living organisms currently gracing the face of the Earth. Also aiding to extinguish were 16 helicopters, 454 fire engines, and 39 water tenders.

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