By Larry Judkins
Glenn County Observer
Despite rumors to the contrary, no arrests were made pertaining to the cause of the fire that destroyed much of the Bucke’s Feed and Grain complex of structures in Orland Thursday night, Oct. 6.
Nor does it seem likely that any such arrests will be made in the future.
Yes, a man was arrested at the scene of the fire, but he was not arrested for arson or anything else directly concerning the fire itself. Rather, as the Orland Police Department reports, Roel Ramiro Torres, 45, of Orland, was intoxicated and refused to leave the closed fire scene.
He was arrested and booked for alleged public intoxication (a misdemeanor). His bail was set at zero.
Friday afternoon, Oct. 7, Orland Fire Chief Justin Chaney told The Observer that he was reasonably certain that the real cause of the inferno was a freezer motor that froze up and caught fire.
Of course, access to the scene of the fire Thursday night was extremely limited. At the time that the original report concerning the fire was published in The Observer, it was thought by many witnesses that the entire property owned by Jack Bucke on the east side of Sixth Street between Colusa and South Streets was destroyed.
This, however, was incorrect. The structures south of the old store were leveled, but the store itself was not.
Repairs to the power poles and power lines continued well into Monday, Oct. 10. Many nearby businesses were without power that day.
Fire departments that responded to the scene on Oct. 6 included Corning, Capay, Hamilton City, Artois, and Willows.
The Corning Fire Department responded with their ladder truck. The ladder trucks for both the Orland and Willows Fire Departments were in need of repairs, leaving Glenn County without a truck of its own, but Corning came to Orland’s aid.
The Glenn County Observer 