Hunter may have caused California's Rim Fire

The gigantic Rim Fire raging in and around Yosemite National Park began when a hunter allowed an illegal fire to get out of control, investigators from the U.S. Forest Service and Tuolumne County District Attorney's Office reported Thursday.

The circumstances in which the hunter set the fire were not immediately clear.

Chief Todd McNeal of the Twain Harte Fire Department told a community group recently that there was no lightning in the area, so the fire must have been caused by humans. He said he suspected it might have caused by an illicit marijuana-growing operation.

But the Forest Service said on Thursday that there is no indication the hunter was involved with illegal marijuana cultivation on public lands, and no marijuana cultivation sites were located near the origin of the fire. No arrests have been made at this time, and the hunter's name is being withheld pending further investigation.

The Rim Fire began Aug. 17 in the Stanislaus National Forest, near the area known as Jawbone Ridge. It has burned 237,341 acres -- one of the largest wildfires in California history -- and is 80 percent contained.

Officials said 111 structures, including 11 homes, have been destroyed. Thousands of firefighters were called in to battle the blaze, which at one point threatened more than 4,000 structures.

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press