Colorado Fire Called 'Malicious'
A federal grand jury charged a veteran U.S. Forest Service worker Wednesday with intentionally setting the largest wildfire in Colorado history, saying she "maliciously" sent flames licking through bone-dry timber southwest of Denver.
Terry Barton, 38, was charged with setting fire to timber in a national forest, damaging federal property, injuring a firefighter and using fire to commit a felony.
"These counts reflect the government's contention that the Hayman fire was deliberately set," U.S. Attorney John Suthers said. "Beyond that, we cannot and will not go into specifics regarding the defendant's intent or motive."
Barton, an 18-year Forest Service employee, was being held without bail pending a bond hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court.
Investigators contend the fire was set deliberately and staged to look like an escaped campfire. They say Barton willfully set fire to timber, underbrush, grass and other flammable material.
Barton's attorney, Rick Williamson, declined to comment.
Suthers released the federal grand jury indictment at a brief news conference and declined to answer any questions.
According to authorities, Barton initially told investigators she was patrolling the Pike National Forest about 40 miles southwest of Denver on June 8 when she smelled smoke and discovered the fire.
After she was confronted with contradictory evidence a week later, Barton told investigators she was burning a letter from her estranged husband in a campfire ring but the fire accidentally got out of control. She said she tried unsuccessfully to suppress it.
On Monday, a criminal complaint against Barton charged her with setting fire to timber in a national forest, damaging federal property and lying to federal investigators.
The charge of lying was dropped in Wednesday's indictment, but Suthers wouldn't say why. If convicted of all four federal counts, Barton could face up to 65 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Suthers identified the injured firefighter as Ryan Beyer of the U.S. Forest Service, who broke his arm. The date of his injury was not released.
"Two of the counts from today's indictment come from the arson statute of the federal criminal code," Suthers said in a statement.
A thorough investigation has been conducted, and the charges set forth in the indictment demonstrate the serious nature of this crime," Suthers said in a statement.
The 135,000-acre fire destroyed 25 homes and forced the evacuation of 7,500 people. It was about 40 percent contained Wednesday.
Battling for primacy in the state was a 44,320-acre fire in southwest Colorado near Durango, where the situation looked just as dire. Officials said that fire, burning since June 9, could grow to over 100,000 acres.
The situation with the two fires was so drastic that President Bush declared the fires a major disaster and ordered federal aid to help state and local efforts in areas hit by wildfires since April 23. Federal funding will include disaster housing, grants, and other programs.
More than extra manpower, what firefighters really need is a drenching rain, but none is forecast for several more days.
Other fires are burning in Alaska, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah. Federal forest officials say more than 1.5 million acres have burned across the country in 2002, nearly twice the 10-year average for this time of year.