
A firefighter works a control burn to head off a spot fire that started on a ridge behind a business on Highway 50 on Saturday, August 28, 2021 in Strawberry, California. - Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/TNS
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Testimony began Tuesday in a court hearing over how the devastating Caldor fire began in 2021, with prosecutors signaling that they may try to show errant gunfire from two suspects sparked the Northern California blaze. Father and son suspects David and Shane Smith have been charged with recklessly starting the fire Aug. 14, 2021, in El Dorado County near Grizzly Flat, and during the start of a preliminary hearing testimony focused on a witness who said he saw two men riding an all-terrain vehicle near the fire and later heard gunshots. Robert Bossard, who had been camping...