Fire News: Man Convicted in Huge Calif Wildfire

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Fire News: Man Convicted in Huge Calif Wildfire

Homeless man Convicted in Huge Calif Wildfire

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A homeless man was convicted Friday in federal court of starting a 2006 wildfire that burned more than 163,000 acres in California's Los Padres National Forest.

The jury also convicted Steven Emory Butcher, 49, of starting the smaller Ellis Fire in the same forest four years earlier.

Butcher was found guilty of two felony counts of starting fires and of one count each of allowing a fire to escape his control, violating restrictions by building a fire on federal forest land and smoking in a federal forest, all misdemeanors.

Butcher's lawyer, Deputy Federal Public Defender Jill Gintsling, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Both the fires burned in Piru Canyon, in a remote wilderness area of the Los Padres National Forest. The Day Fire raged for more than a month and cost more than $78 million to suppress. It injured 18 people and destroyed 11 structures.

The Ellis Fire burned 70 acres.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Butcher had an illegal campsite in the canyon, where he lived for part of the year.

Butcher was first charged last August, along with seven other people and two companies, for their alleged roles in starting nine wildfires that together burned hundreds of thousands of acres in California.

Prosecutors have said they could seek restitution for fire suppression costs if they got a conviction in the case, but it was unclear Friday if they planned to do so.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph O. Johns did not immediately return a call for comment.

Source: AP

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

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CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Saturday, February 16, 2008