Produce stand fire leads to arrest

Colusa County authorities have arrested a 61-year-old man on suspicion of setting a fire near a roadside fruit and vegetable stand.

Sheriff’s deputies detained Norman Ralph Henderson, a Clearlake resident, for investigation of arson in connection with the Wednesday blaze, which broke out five miles west of Williams. He is being held at the Colusa County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.

Henderson previously was convicted in an arson case in Nevada, as well as for another fire nearly 40 years ago in Butte County, sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Erdelt said.

Shortly before 4:15 p.m., Colusa County sheriff’s deputies and Williams firefighters received calls reporting flames outside the produce booth at Highway 20 and King Road, five miles west of Williams.

Passers-by stopped and knocked down the blaze with fire extinguishers, according to Erdelt. Flames consumed boxes stacked outside the stand but only scorched the stall, which was spared further damage.

After onlookers reported a Nissan pickup leaving the scene, deputies stopped the vehicle at Highways 20 and 16 near Lake County and arrested Henderson, the driver.

The produce booth is owned by a Colusa County farm owner, William Charter III, and was not scheduled to reopen until the summer.

An investigator from the state Fire Marshal’s Office will question Henderson about possible links to other suspicious fires, sheriff’s Deputy Tony Garofalo said.

For more information, check back online or read the Wednesday edition of the Sun-Herald.