HCSO units still on scene investigating details of fire in Manila

HCSO units and CALFire are still out on scene HCSO Lt. Dennis Young said he has same information as what was heard on scanner. HCSO will release more details later.

From scanner: some sort of structure fire, near homeless encampment, suspect fled scene.

HCSO Press Release:

At about 9:30 this morning, August 18, a male subject living in Manila phoned the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office requesting a deputy and medical assistance. He said he had been assaulted at his home in Manila by an unknown subject. The victim said he believed the suspect left the scene riding a bicycle. He also stated he believed shots were fired and he may have been shot. The scene was secured by deputies and the victim was transported to the hospital where it was determined that he had a minor laceration on the back of this head. The victim did not know what weapon caused the injury. The investigating deputies found no evidence of shots being fired around the location of occurrence. The victim’s home was an illegal structure he’d built in an area where transients are known to frequent. The structure was burned to the ground. Humboldt Fire responded and suppressed the fire. CHP responded to close Hwy 255 and create a bypass while the fire was extinguished. The deputies did a systematic search for the suspect, or any additional victims, at the scene. The reporting victim was the only one at the location of occurrence.