Homeless man charged with arson for Phoenix fire in Oregon

Amid the wildfires ravaging the West Coast, a reportedly homeless man was charged with arson in connection to a fire that was set Tuesday in the Phoenix area in southern Oregon.

Michael Jarrod Bakkela, 41, was taken into custody on two charges of arson, 15 counts of criminal mischief, and 14 counts of reckless endangering.

Deputies responded to Quail Lane off Barnum Drive between Highway 99 and railroad tracks. Residents had dialed 911 after witnessing a man light a fire behind their house in around 5 p.m. The civilians then fled "due to the impendending fire."

When Oregon State Police troopers and Jackson County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived on scene, Bakkela allegedly "was standing close to a very large fire threatening several homes."

The fire was ignited in north Ashland near a spot where a man was found dead just about a mile from the origin point. The flames then merged with Almeda Fire—which started six hours prior and burned more than 5,700 acres and destroyed 700 structures—torching multiple residences, Jackson County Sheriff's Office public information officer Mike Moran told ABC News.

"There are numerous homes, many of which are burnt completely, some are just heavily damaged," Moran said.

Reportedly homeless, Bakkela was initially detained on Tuesday for a probation violation related to unlawful possession of methamphetamine, greater than 2 ounces. Authorities charged him the following day for the fire, which he denied starting.

The Post Millennial researched Bakkela's lengthy criminal background stretched back to 1997 for marijuana use. An open harassment case is still leveled against the suspect. In 2015, he was charged for theft in the third degree and reporting false information to law enforcement.

Bakkela was also charged in 2019 with a drug-related class C felony for the same substance abuse.

The FBI has since firmly negated false statements online that claim that radicals set the raging fires in Oregon, addressing viral rumours that political groups have encouraged Antifa operatives to light land and property ablaze.

"FBI Portland and local law enforcement agencies have been receiving reports that extremists are responsible for setting wildfires in Oregon. With our state and local partners, the FBI has investigated several such reports and found them to be untrue. Conspiracy theories and misinformation take valuable resources away from local fire and police agencies working around the clock to bring these fires under control. Please help our entire community by only sharing validated information from official sources," the FBI wrote in a press release.

Gov. Kate Brown cited 40,000 Oregonians who have evacuated and half a million residents in evacuation zones.

During a press conference on Friday, the state's emergency management director Andrew Phelps stated that officials are "preparing for a mass fatality event" given thousands of structures that have been destroyed.