California Wildfire Allegedly Started To Cover up Murder
Firefighters set a backfire to protect homes and try to contain the Blue Ridge Fire on October 27, 2020 in Chino Hills, California. Strong Santa Ana Winds gusting to more than 90 miles per hour have driven the Blue Ridge Fire and Silverado Fire across thousands of acres, grounding firefighting aircraft, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee and gravely injuring two firefighters. More than 8,200 wildfires have burned across a record 4 million-plus acres so far this year, more than double the previous record. David McNew/Getty Images

A California wildfire in 2020 that ravaged Northern California was intentionally set, according to officials.

Officials believed that the California wildfire was started to cover up a murder. The fire additionally killed two people.

Solano County sheriff's office and Vacaville police said that the burned body of Priscilla Castro was found near a dam in Solano County, according to an NBC News report.

Meanwhile, two more people were found dead from the same fire in their homes. Douglas Mai, 82, and Leon "James" Bone, 64 were identified to be the victims of the fire.

"Based on an extensive eight-month investigation, we believe Serriteno deliberately set the Markley Fire in an attempt to conceal his crime," Sheriff Tom Ferrara was quoted in a report.

Victor Serriteno was arrested by authorities in September and charged with Castro's murder.

The Murder

The suspect had already been accused of killing 32-year-old Castro on Aug. 16, 2020.

He was then arrested and charged with her murder in September and has been imprisoned ever since.

Castro was a resident in Vallejo and disappeared after going to Vacaville for a death with Serriteno, according to a Buzzfeed News report.

"I knew there were ugly people in the world but I never knew they would do something to someone so close to us," Priscilla's sister Jasmine Castro was quoted in a CBS Sacramento report.

Castro had left behind a daughter, 9.

Serriteno is currently facing additional charges of arson and murder for the deaths of Mai and Bone.

The Other Victims

Bone was reported to be visually impaired and lived in a home without running water or electricity, according to an NBC Bay Area report.

Bone's cousin, Daniel Bone, said that he was probably taken by complete surprise.

Bone's cousin said that the victim had lived on the property his entire life and refused to move when his parents died.

Meanwhile, the 82-year-old victim moved to Northern California in 1977 to be closer to nature.

Mai was reported to have served in the Navy and worked as a police officer.

Mai also served as an assistant scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said that the Markley Fire later merged with a series of other fires to form the LNU Lightning Complex, which is considered to be one of the largest wildfires in the state's history.

The other fires were believed to have been started after about 11,000 lightning had struck the northern area, according to an AFP News report.

The fire complex had burned over 363,000 acres across California's famed wine country and burned down almost 1,500 structures.

This also displaced tens of thousands of residents.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, said that there is almost no statistic or dimension of the 2020 wildfire in California that was not horrifying, according to an earlier The Guardian report.

Cal Fire reported 10,000 incidents this year, with five of the six largest fires in the state recorded in 2020.

WATCH: Death toll rises as wildfire spreads through Northern California - from CBC News