El Dorado County prosecutors are set to lay out their evidence against the father-son duo accused of starting the Caldor Fire, an historic wildfire that destroyed nearly an entire town and burned a quarter million acres of California forest. Postponed several times, the preliminary hearing is now scheduled for October 10, 2023, in the Placerville courthouse.

David Smith and son, Travis (Shane) Smith, stand accused of igniting the fire and have been out on bond since their arrest in December, 2021. They face multiple felony counts of reckless arson and possession of gun silencers, and Shane Smith faces a count of illegally converting a firearm into a machine gun. You can read more about the firearm charges in my previous post here.

In California, preliminary hearings require prosecutors to prove probable cause in order for the case to go to trial. If they are successful, a trial is likely to begin in early 2024. The hearing was scheduled to be held this month, but two new prosecutors have been assigned to the case and may have needed more time to review the evidence.

I reached out to Shane Smith’s attorney, Mark Reichel, to ask if his client is disappointed with this latest delay. “I haven’t asked him that. I can tell you he understands there’s not a lot of judges there, not a lot of courtrooms. The calendar is clogged. And finding time between all four attorneys (two prosecutors, David Smith’s attorney, and Reichel) can be tough,” he said.

In their 2021 motion to set bail following the Smiths’ arrest, the DA alleged the fire was started by the two men shooting firearms near a swimming hole just off Dogtown Creek. According to the motion, “Investigators determined the Caldor Fire likely ignited when a projectile discharged from a firearm and struck an object, causing heated fragments of the projectile to land in a dry receptive fuel bed, igniting the fuels.”

The motion requested a one million dollar bail for each defendant. Following that hearing an El Dorado County judge reduced the bail to $50,000 for Shane and $25,000 for David.

I asked Reichel if it’s his understanding that the DA will move forward with the “heated fragment” theory at the October hearing. “Yes,” he replied, without elaborating. I pressed him to discuss whether the Smiths had firearms with him that day and whether they were indeed shooting, and he declined to comment. In previous conversations, Reichel has stated the DA’s ignition theory is “simply not possible.”

Both attorneys for the Smiths maintain there has never been an official explanation as to how the fire started and no eye witnesses to the fire’s ignition exists.

For a detailed account of the Smiths’ movements on the day of the fire’s ignition, click here.

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