Colorado: Woman Arrested sifting Through Remains Of Home Burned In Wildfire

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Colorado: Woman Arrested sifting Through Remains Of Home Burned In Wildfire

Colorado woman who lost her home in Colorado's most destructive wildfire was arrested on a traffic warrant as she sifted through charred remains of her uninsured home.

McCormack's home was one of more than 500 that were destroyed in the Black Forest Fire earlier this month.

Marsha McCormack sits near the remains of her burned home in Colorado Springs on Wednesday. McCormack was arrested and handcuffed on June 21 as she sifted through the charred remains of her uninsured trailer. A license plate device tipped authorities that she was wanted on a bench warrant for failing to appear in court on a traffic-related charge. / Jerilee Bennett/The Colorado Springs Gazette

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A woman who lost her home in Colorado's most destructive wildfire was arrested on a warrant for a traffic violation as she sifted through the charred remains of her uninsured trailer.

Marsha McCormack, 59, was arrested June 21 after a license plate reader tipped authorities that she was wanted on a bench warrant for failing to appear in court. McCormack, whose home was burned in the Black Forest Fire, told the Colorado Springs Gazette.

She was taken by squad car to the county jail only to be taken to a hospital later because of chest pains. She was then returned to the jail for processing and finally released to her neighbors, who paid $446 to cover bail and a court fee.

The whole process took about nine hours, said McCormack, who is staying in a borrowed motor home outside the house of a fellow church member. Lt. Jeff Kramer, a spokesman for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, said deputies were following standard procedure when they arrested McCormack. "It was a misdemeanor warrant," he said. "She was handcuffed because she was arrested and being transported to jail in a police car."

McCormack said the ticket stemmed from a traffic stop in California many years ago when police found she didn't have insurance and suspended her license. Sometime within the last year, she was stopped in Colorado for running a stop sign and was issued a summons for not having a license. She said she missed the court date because she had to go to California to deal with a family emergency.

Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazette.com and the Coloradoan http://www.coloradoan.com/viewart/20130628/NEWS11/306280050/Colorado-woman-arrested-after-home-burns-wildfire

and Wildfires Today - http://wildfirestoday.blogspot.com/2013/06/colorado-woman-who-lost-her-home-in.html

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CFN - California Fire News 2013

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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, June 29, 2013