The Californian authorities are pressing for felony charges against wildfire starters -- even if blazes are sparked by accident.
As investigators try to determine whether last week's Manibu wildfire near Los Angeles was deliberately set or sparked by accident, recent court filings show that authorities at local, state and federal levels in California are aggressively prosecuting those who started wildfires, regardless of intent, said fire officials.
Among those facing the felony charges are two laborers who sparked one of the largest wildfires in California history while repairing a broken water pipe in Southern California, the officials said in remarks published by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday.
Th felony criminal charges could land them in prison, and the ranch they worked for could be forced to pay at least part of the fire's 118-million-dollar cost, said the paper.
A transient whose trash burning allegedly started last year's massive fire deep in the Los Padres National Forest near Los Angeles meanwhile, has been indicted on eight federal charges and will soon face a jury that could send him to prison, according to the paper.
Accidental ignitions cause most wildfires, according to state statistics. Over a five-year period, about two-thirds of state wildfires were started accidentally -- by humans, natural causes or unsafe use of equipment, according to a study by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Arsonists, by comparison, were responsible for seven percent of the fires.
The remaining causes were categorized as undetermined or other. Sparks flying from power tools and equipment accounted for close to one-third of wildfires. Other accidental causes included trash-burning (10 percent), lightning strikes (five percent), untended campfires and downed power lines (three percent each).
In August, federal prosecutors announced charges against 10 people and businesses accused of accidentally igniting wildfires in California dating to 2002.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, said the agency wanted to remind people that they Law enforcement officials say they are obligated to hold those who start fires responsible.
If there was a violation of law, or if someone was negligent, both civil and criminal charges can be considered, said Hoffman of the forestry department.
Businesses deemed responsible for wildfires have been prosecuted, and cases are often settled for the limits of the firms' liability insurance.
Source: Xinhua
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