Judge: Teen must repay $37M for starting Oregon wildfire
Source: AP
HOOD RIVER, Ore. (AP) A teenager who started a major wildfire in the scenic Columbia River Gorge in Oregon has been ordered to pay restitution for at least the next decade, though its unlikely the boy will ever cover his nearly $37 million bill.
The Oregonian reports that Hood River County Circuit Judge John A. Olson issued the opinion on Monday, awarding the restitution totaling $36,618,330.24 to cover the costs of firefighting, repair and restoration to the gorge and damage to homes. Victims include the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon Department of Transportation.
The 15-year-old from Vancouver, Washington, earlier this year acknowledged wrongdoing and said he threw two fireworks in Eagle Creek Canyon on Sept. 2 when flames spread quickly. The fire caused evacuations, an extended shutdown of a major interstate highway and devastation to a major outdoor tourist attraction.
The judges order notes that the boy can set up a payment plan, though payments can be halted after 10 years as long as he complies, completes probation and doesnt commit other crimes.
Read more: https://apnews.com/9b5aa5961a264c72926a8843dd40be21
Now that's an incentive to get a job, I don't do math, but I bet he doesn't get much pay while being grounded for a decade.
Wonder how he got caught
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Baclava
(12,047 posts)'Do you realize you just started a forest fire?' and the kid said, 'Well, what are we supposed to do about it now?"
"I really felt like it's not just that one boy that lobbed it. He had a friend that filmed it. There was a whole group of kids who found it funny to do this. The girl's expression as she drove by. None of them seemed at all to understand what they were doing. I don't know what they were feeling but I got a glimpse of at least one young woman or girl who looked like she was just hanging out like it was just any other day."
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Dave Starsky
(5,914 posts)He obviously knew exactly what he was doing and didn't give a fuck. I hope the social media hits he got from this stunt were worth ruining the rest of his life.
Lochloosa
(16,019 posts)lostnfound
(16,138 posts)IronLionZion
(45,259 posts)err...prevent.
Hestia
(3,818 posts)"the". Sorry, just some piddling info.
https://www.smokeybear.com/en/smokey-for-kids/about-smokey
IronLionZion
(45,259 posts)PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)TeamPooka
(24,156 posts)maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)He'll never be able to pay this back. Even if he somehow makes 37 million dollars, he destroyed priceless cultural assets.
luc mont
(70 posts)Had he been, he would've gotten 30 days community service as a wine taster.
Javaman
(62,440 posts)mackdaddy
(1,520 posts)The fact that what is normally a temperate rain forest was in a massive drought that a single spark could cause 37 million in damages, not a factor.
Climate change is just a hoax anyhow, or so I am told.
hunter
(38,264 posts)The idiot kid and his friends didn't do this alone.
The fires from here on out are only going to get worse.
OnlinePoker
(5,702 posts)It was exactly where it was supposed to be for that time of year.
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/drought/weekly-palmers/20170902