Overview
- Butte County courts recorded a guilty finding on July 24, 2026, when Ronnie Dean Stout II was convicted of felony arson in the blaze that began two years earlier.
- Cal Fire figures put the Park Fire at about 429,603 acres and show hundreds of structures were destroyed or damaged, marking it among California’s largest wildfires by acreage.
- Prosecutors relied on multiple witness accounts, Cal Fire investigator testimony and photos that they say show Stout revving a vehicle, the car catching fire and then being pushed into a gully where it ignited dry vegetation.
- Stout has denied intentionally starting the fire, saying the vehicle caught fire after becoming stuck, and he faces sentencing on Oct. 9 with exposure to a 25‑years‑to‑life term under three‑strike enhancements.
- News accounts disagree on whether the conviction was reached by a jury or by Judge Kristen Lucena after Stout waived a jury trial, a discrepancy that remains to be resolved in official court records.