Feds charge kid in $5 million wildfire

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A 10,000-acre wildfire that did $5 million in damage is being blamed on a juvenile with a Bic lighter.

The unnamed kid is being charged with two counts of juvenile delinquency in a criminal information filed Monday in federal court in Denver.  He or she will receive a summons to appear in federal court in Durango, Colo.

Under federal law, no identifying information about the juvenile can be released, according to a joint statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Bureau of Land Management in Denver.

The charges allege the juvenile gathered a pile of leaves and underbrush around a bush on June 22 and then used a Bic lighter to ignited what became known as the Weber Fire six miles south of Mancos, Colo.

The fire raged across 10,000 acres of BLM, state and private land before it was contained two weeks later as light rained helped the 500 firefighters on the scene.

No homes were lost although one outbuilding burned.

According to prosecutors, the fire caused $5 million in damage but did not break down the source of that figure.  Reports at the time put the cost of firefighting alone at $3.2 million not including any damage to natural resources and private property.

If convicted the juvenile would face the lesser of incarceration until age 21, a sentence for an adult in a similar crime or an adult sentence plus restitution plus five year of juvenile-delinquent supervision, the statement by the federal agencies said.