A year and a month after the devastating Roaring Lion fire destroyed 16 homes and cost $11 million to fight, three of the young people whose campfire started the blaze received deferred sentences in Ravalli County District Court — prompting cries of foul from several affected homeowners.
Steven Banks, Tyler Johnson and Cody Knez agreed Monday to pay 10 percent of their income each year for five years, and to perform 100 hours of volunteer community service with the Forest Service each of three years. If they complete those conditions, the charges of felony and misdemeanor negligent arson will be dropped.
The case against a fourth person — a juvenile — was dismissed.
The four built a campfire three days before the Roaring Lion fire erupted on a small bluff near Roaring Lion Creek.
Ravalli County Attorney Bill Fulbright called the case “highly emotional” with “no winner.” He said he tried to strike a balance between the landowners who suffered great losses and the affected landowners who disagree with the charges that were filed.
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“These young men desire to be good citizens and part of the community,” Fulbright told Judge Jeffrey Langton. “We also recognize that they’ve been charged with the lowest level of criminal conduct. They had no intention or purpose to cause harm and that has to be weighed against the devastating results of the fire.”
Langton said he did not have a role in the agreement, due to a legislative change in 2015.
“The decision is the sole discretion of the prosecuting attorney,” Langton said. “The court has no authority. The term is five years unless an event triggers an earlier review.”
Nearly 10 landowners devastated by the Roaring Lion fire were unhappy with the agreement and angrily questioned Fulbright's decision after Monday's hearing.
Fulbright explained that 10 percent of each defendant’s adjusted gross income will come to his office and he will deliver it to the landowners — proportionately.
“It isn’t going to be much because you know who they are — 18, now 19-year-olds,” he said.
Several landowners remarked that the four had broken the law.
Fulbright said that when Banks, Johnson, Knez and the juvenile lit their campfire, there was a burn ban in Ravalli County but there was no Stage One restriction by the Forest Service.
“At that time there were no restrictions once you crossed into Forest Service land,” Fulbright said. “I had to balance the evidence we have against the damage they caused and what the fire cost, which is huge.”
Fulbright said the cost of the fire would never be recovered.
“I would rather see something that is a reminder of why you don’t do this,” he said.
Landowner Jan Moat called community service with the Forest Service a reward rather than a punishment. She said when her son was 18 he volunteered to work for the Forest Service.
“He was delighted and excited to get that job. That is not punishment for an 18-year-old,” she said. “He was delighted to get what you are giving these kids as punishment. Maybe they should be picking up litter.”
Fulbright said the Forest Service would determine their volunteer work.
Landowner Bill Haberman disagreed with the number of hours.
“I think 300 hours is totally low compared with the damage that they did and the hardship that they caused to the people here and the others who couldn’t come,” Haberman said.
He disagreed with having three summers at 100 hours a summer.
“That’s hardly over two weeks of work,” Haberman said. “All of us here put in a lot more than two weeks of work every summer to have our houses look the way they are. We not only lost our contents, we lost everything — our feelings, our beliefs. Most of us here, as you can see, are not in our 30s. It is hard to start all over when you are in your 60s and 70s.”
Landowner Lyn Faunce-Haberman called Fulbright a liar.
“You misrepresented what you’ve done for the victims of this fire to that judge,” she said. “You told him you were in contact with us but you haven’t talked to us, personally, on your own. All that stuff you told the judge about having a good sense of what the victims of this case would like to have as a result of this prosecution was incorrect because you don’t know.”
Fulbright clarified that the definition of his job did not allow him to represent individual citizens. He said he understands landowners want him to “equate what happens in the criminal case with the degree of loss.”
“I’m ethically bound to take in to account the level of conduct,” Fulbright said. “If they had intentionally set to burn down Ravalli County, it would be a whole different case.”
Fulbright said unhappy landowners could possibly file civil lawsuits.
