Man Charged in Flagstaff Wildfire:Campfire Not Properly Put Out
June 21st, 2010 - 8:43 pm ICT by Angela Kaye Mason
June 21 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Randall Wayne Nicholson is facing class 2 misdemeanor charges, which can lead to a fine of $750 and a four month prison term after failing to put out his campfire on Saturday night near Flagstaff Arizona.
The area in which Nicholson was camping was very dry because of the lack of rain during this spring. Experts suspect that the coals which were not completely put out by Nicholson caused nearby timber to ignite, and start a blaze which has quickly spread into a raging wildfire.
The Flagstaff wildfire quickly spread to a 350 acre inferno. An estimated 17 homes had to be evacuated. A huge plume of smoke hovered over the area just north of the city, and a search is on for hikers who were known to be in the area. According to a statement made by the National Interagency Fire Center, the conditions in that area were simply susceptible to fire.
“The Southwest had a wet winter and then the spring turned dry. Because we’ve had all of these storms up in the northwest, that’s brought a lot more wind to the Southwest, so the combination of a dry and windy spring has increased the fire potential quite a bit in the Southwest,” A spokesman for the agency, Rick Ochoa, stated.
- Californian man charged in Flagstaff wildfire case - Jun 21, 2010
- Flagstaff Experts Fight Fire, Accidentally Set By The Charged Man - Jun 21, 2010
- 54 Year Old Californian Man Charged In Flagstaff Wildfire - Jun 21, 2010
- 200 homes evacuated due to wildfire in US - Aug 25, 2010
- Wildfire In Flagstaff Leads To Evacuations - Jun 20, 2010
- Arizona Cops Detain Man In Connection With Flagstaff Wildfire - Jun 20, 2010
- Wildfires ravage Russian villages - Apr 21, 2012
- Canada Fire Spreads Alarm In Neighboring US States - Jun 01, 2010
- 1,300 homes destroyed in Texas wildfire - Sep 09, 2011
- Hundreds battle forest fire in China - Jan 28, 2012
- Forest fire in western Mexico burns over 8,000 acres - Apr 24, 2012
- Dinosaurs ruled a world of fire and brimstone - Apr 12, 2012
- Wildfire In Boulder County Spreads Over 4 Square Miles - Sep 07, 2010
- Lava from Hawaiian volcano sparks wildfire - Mar 16, 2011
- California wildfire doubles in size, threatens 12,000 homes - Sep 01, 2009
Tags: acre, blaze, campfire, coals, flagstaff arizona, hikers, inferno, interagency fire center, june 21, misdemeanor charges, national interagency fire, national interagency fire center, ochoa, plume of smoke, prison term, saturday night, storms, wayne nicholson, wet winter, windy spring