By Jenna Lyons
San Francisco Chronicle
LOWER LAKE, Calif. — Years before an ex-convict allegedly started the 4,000-acre Clayton Fire, he had spent several months as an inmate firefighter in Lake County, prison officials said Tuesday.
Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, of Clearlake, was arrested on 17 counts of arson Monday. He was suspected of starting multiple fires in the last year. The Clayton Fire has destroyed more than 175 buildings and displaced hundreds of people.
Pashilk had previously served five years in state prison on drug possession and a firearm-related offense beginning in January 2002, said Vicky Waters, a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman.
During his sentence, he trained as an inmate firefighter at the California Correctional Center in Susanville. He was assigned to Trinity Camp in Lewiston from April 12, 2007 to July 5, 2007, Waters said.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation runs 42 inmate training camps in 27 counties. Inmates volunteer for the program, but participation is restricted to nonviolent offenders, Waters said.
Inmates who are ineligible for parole, certified gang members, and those with active warrants, cannot become firefighters, along with those who have committed murder, arson or sex offenses.
“They must show obviously the appropriate attitude and aptitude to work in the fire crews,” Waters said.
Pashilk was paroled on July 25, 2007, and hasn’t worked as an inmate firefighter again, although he has been imprisoned six more times for parole violations.
He most recently left parole on August 23, 2011.
Waters said more than 1,800 inmates are fighting fires statewide, including 340 fighting the Lake County blaze.
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