The three men convicted of starting an illegal campfire near Glendora that grew into the massive Colby fire were ordered Monday to collectively pay $9 million in restitution.
Jonathan Jarrell, 24, Clifford Eugene Henry Jr., 23, and Steven Robert Aguirre, 22, were found guilty earlier this year of building an illegal campfire on federal land and causing timber, trees, brush and grass to burn in the forest without a permit.
U.S. District Judge George H. Wu said the restitution would compensate victims, insurers, police, fire and other agencies that fought the January wildfire and dealt with its aftermath.
“They potentially have the rest of their lives to pay for it,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph O. Johns said outside court.
The three men hiked up the Colby Trail high above Glendora the night of Jan. 15, built a fire ring out of rocks, and lit two illegal campfires.
The first fire — which was not among the charged offenses — went out before midnight, but around 4 a.m. on Jan. 16, the cold weather awakened the men.
Henry Jr. and Aguirre built another campfire to keep warm and Jarrell added notebook paper to the blaze. Shortly afterward, a gust of wind blew embers into the surrounding brush.
“He intentionally took paper and lit it on fire,” Johns told the jury in Jarrell’s trial. “And not a shred of evidence disputes that.”
When the embers started blowing, the men managed to stomp out one fiery patch, but another ignited.
At that point, Jarrell, Aguirre and Henry Jr. “panicked and fled,” leaving the wildfire “to the untender mercies of the Santa Ana winds,” Johns said during the trial of Jarrell’s co-defendants.
The blaze in the Angeles National Forest consumed 1,952 acres, destroyed five homes and damaged 17 others while injuring six people, including five firefighters, according to the U.S. Forest Service. It also destroyed 10 outbuildings and damaged another.
Aguirre and Henry were sentenced to federal prison for five and six months, respectively. Jarrell’s sentencing was postponed until June.
— City News Service