Youth Charged in Colorado Wildfire

[mtnfireguy]

Felony charges were filed Tuesday against three Platte Canyon High School teenagers Tuesday in connection with the start of the Snaking fire on April 23 in Bailey, Co.

The Park County district attorney filed felony counts against two 14-year-olds, and one 15-year-old, and said each is subject to be tried as an adult.

The district attorney also filed additional misdemeanor and petty offense charges against the three in connection with the same alleged incident.

The district attorney asked that the three teens be placed in juvenile detention for a period of not less than one year, if they are found guilty.

Each teen was individually charged with felony fourth-degree arson for "knowingly and recklessly" starting and maintaining a fire on national forest property.

Two misdemeanor counts were filed against the three for fourth-degree arson and firing woods or prairie.

The fire cost an estimated $2.6 million and threatened hundreds of homes as it burned 2,312 acres.

[waydog]

So will the felony charges make them a convicted felon for life or is it erased after age 18?
No way will the 3 be able to pay off $866,000.00 each! Thats $902.00 each month for the next 80 years, lol!

[NJFFSA16]

Of course....now comes the difficult part...providing proof, without a doubt, that these teens did indeed start the blaze. Unless you have indisputable evidence, it is extremely difficult to convict. It will be interesting to follow this case...and I suspect that some sort of plea bargain will result, with reduced penalties for the alleged felons.

mtnfireguy...Thanks for the post!:D

[NJFFSA16]

BAILEY, Colo. (AP) - Five boys and a 14-year-old girl have been
charged with starting three wildfires that forced thousands of
people to flee.
The unidentified girl was arrested Wednesday on two counts of
felony arson for allegedly starting a 40-acre fire in Monument,
north of Colorado Springs, that forced the evacuation of 20 houses.
Arson charges were also filed Tuesday against three boys, high
school students aged 14 and 15. They were accused of accidentally
igniting a blaze April 23 after they skipped class to smoke
cigarettes on a ridge above the school.
The five-day wildfire forced the evacuation of more than 1,000
homes, burned 2,600 acres southwest of Denver and cost $2.6 million
to control. There were no injuries and no homes were destroyed.
"I'd like to see the boys go into the homes that had smoke
damage and re-carpet and repaint, so they could see what they
caused," said Cyndi Raymer, who was forced out of her home for two
nights.
Also, two 10-year-old boys were accused of setting fire to a
bush for kicks, triggering a fire that burned 35 acres of ranchland
near Colorado Springs on Monday.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press