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A hiker has been hit with nearly $300,000 in fines after setting a series of signal fires while lost in the Arizona wilderness, one of which grew into a forest fire.
U.S. Forest Service officer Michael O’Neil, who investigated the fires, said Powers lost his way while hiking through the Prescott and Coconino National Forests on May 27.
Over the next two days, Powers set three separate signal fires, one of which grew into what has been named the Sycamore Fire, court documents said.
The hiker and his attorneys have argued that the fires were set out of necessity, according to the court documents.
But U.S. Magistrate Judge Camille D. Bibles, who issued the verdict in Powers' case, said the hiker “was reckless and negligent in his preparation for a hike of this magnitude from the outset.”
“Had Powers engaged in adequate preparation in planning and carried adequate water, food and gear, he would not have found himself in his circumstances,” she wrote.
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Powers had only about 116 ounces of water on him and for his multi-mile hike, and brought only a small amount of food to eat, according to the court documents.
He allegedly did not bring a flashlight, a first-aid kit, a backup navigational device or any sort of signal for help, and his cellphone died after his first night alone.
Powers was also hiking on a different trail than he anticipated — one that was more difficult than the route he planned to hike nearly 50 miles away, the court documents stated.
Powers wasn’t allowed to set the fires, either; the forests he was exploring were under fire restrictions at the time, according to court documents.
The U.S. Forest Service spent approximately $300,000 in resources to put out the Sycamore Fire, which took nearly a week to contain, the documents said.
Bibles ruled that Powers didn’t take proper precautions to prevent the fire from spreading when he set them.
“[The necessity defense is]unavailablewhere the defendant fails to show he or she did not recklessly or negligently place him- or herself in circumstances in which he would probably be forced to commit a crime,” Bibles said in a memo released earlier this month, according toThe Washington Post.
Powers' attorneys filed to begin the appeal process last Friday, per the report.
source: people.com
