Woman arrested on suspicion of arson in Grass Valley fire that forced evacuations

GRASS VALLEY – A woman has been arrested on suspicion of starting a fire that forced evacuations in the Grass Valley area of Nevada County on Friday afternoon.

The fire was burning in Grass Valley between Lumberjacks Restaurant and Sierra Motor Sports on Nevada City Highway. The Grass Valley Fire Department confirmed the fire started in vegetation and spread to the motor sports building.

The Grass Valley Police Department issued mandatory evacuations for several zones, but most of those orders were lifted shortly before 5 p.m. A map of the county's zones can be found online .

The police department said just after 4:30 p.m. that the forward progress of the vegetation fire had been stopped.

Suspect arrested

The Grass Valley Police Department confirmed to CBS13 that a woman has been arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of arson. Police said she told officers that she caused the fire.

The suspect was identified as 49-year-old Elizabeth Huston of Nevada County. She was booked into jail on a charge of arson involving an inhabited building.

Sierra Motor Sports

Sierra Motor Sports was still working through its inventory list Friday night, but police said they estimated $1.5 million worth of inventory was lost. Many of their vehicles were destroyed, along with helmets, gloves, clothing and other merchandise.

Police said there was about a half dozen vehicles that were not destroyed.

In the building was old fuel and a number of other combustible fuels used to make repairs.

When the fire broke out, police said there were four employees inside the building at the time. They were able to make it out without getting injured.

Officers with the police department will remain at the scene throughout the night and fire crews will mop up the scene.