Date: 2/14/2009
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Ten people who built a campfire won’t be charged with igniting a wildfire last fall that destroyed more than 200 homes in Santa Barbara and neighboring Montecito, prosecutors said Friday.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Christie Stanley said investigators could not prove who caused the wildfire that blackened more than 65 square miles and destroyed rows of multimillion-dollar homes, including actor Christopher Lloyd’s $11 million home in Montecito. Two people were seriously injured in the blaze.
Investigators had found evidence that the campfire was lit in Montecito about 14 hours before the wildfire erupted Nov. 13, but prosecutors concluded they could not establish who started the wildfire.
“Unfortunately, that’s not an unusual result,” said Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Eli Iskow, whose department helped investigate the cause of the fire.
Stanley said the people who lit the campfire would be charged with misdemeanor trespassing and unlawfully building and using a campfire without permission.
The two misdemeanor counts carry a maximum penalty of a year in county jail, up to a $1,000 fine and three to five years of probation, Stanley said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
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