TRANSIENT ACCUSED OF CAUSING FOREST FIRE OFFICIALS BLAME SMOKING, CAMPFIRE.Byline: PATRICIA PATRICIA Practical Algorithm To Retrieve Information Coded In Alphanumeric PATRICIA Proving and Testability for Reliability Improvement of Complex Integrated Architectures PATRICIA PApilloma TRIal Cervical cancer In young Adults FARRELL AIDEM Staff Writer LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST Los Padres National Forest is a forest located in southern and central California, which includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Monterey, extending inland. Elevations range from sea level to 8,831 feet. -- A transient has been arrested and charged in connection with last year's immense Day Fire that burned for a month in two national forests and sent plumes of smoke over the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys. Steven Emory Butcher, 48, also was accused of causing the 2002 Ellis Fire that burned about 70 acres in Piru Canyon, where the Day Fire also started. Investigators say Butcher started campfires that emitted embers and caused the wildfires. He also was charged with smoking cigarettes in the forest during a time of high fire danger. A federal magistrate on Monday ordered Butcher held without bail. He faces up to five years in prison for each of the eight counts listed in an indictment handed up last week. "Mr. Butcher was seen in the area during the (Day) Fire and had sustained minor burns," U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kathy Good said Tuesday. "He was interviewed a few times after that." The Day Fire -- so named because it started on Labor Day Labor Day, holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September to honor the laborer. It was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor in 1882 and made a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894. , a short time after a separate blaze dubbed the Labor Fire -- burned more than 162,000 acres in September and October. It started near Piru and burned mostly in the Ventura County section of the Los Padres National Forest, though it also charred the western edge of the Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) was established by executive order on December 20, 1892 as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. It covers over 2,600 km² (650,000 acres) and is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, just north of the metropolitan area of Los , burning up to the shore of Pyramid Lake Pyramid Lake, 188 sq mi (487 sq km), W Nev. The lake, a remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan, receives the Truckee River. Visited (1844) by U.S. explorer John Frémont, the lake was named for its large pyramidal rocks. and along Interstate 5 north of Castaic. The stubborn fire burned across inaccessible wilderness and cost more than $78 million to battle, Good said. Butcher was among 10 individuals and companies charged in connection with wildfires that burned hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest land across Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , U.S. Attorney George S. Cardona said. Among the other defendants are Mendez Concrete Inc. of Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. and Michael Roberts, 57, of Ojai, who were working in 2003 on a project for the United Water Conservation District at the Lake Piru Lake Piru is a lake located in Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County and was created by the construction in 1955 of the Santa Felicia Dam on Piru Creek which is a tributary of the Santa Clara River. boat launch, Good said. They are accused of allowing an employee to use a gas-powered circular saw, which threw off sparks and started the 63,720-acre Piru Fire that burned up to the edges of both Fillmore and Piru, prompting evacuations. Mendez and Roberts did not have the required fire extinguisher on hand, and now face two misdemeanor charges. The Piru Fire cost more than $7.5 million to suppress. Other indictments involved suspects blamed in fires from San Bernardino County to Santa Barbara County. pat.aidem(at)dailynews.com (661) 257-5251 |
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