The San Juan Bautista school teacher who started the Lick Fire
more than two years ago pleaded no contest and paid $200,000 in
restitution, but faces hundreds of thousands more in restitution
due to civil suits.
The San Juan Bautista school teacher who started the Lick Fire more than two years ago pleaded no contest and paid $200,000 in restitution, but faces hundreds of thousands more in restitution due to civil suits.
Margaret Pavese, 53, was sentenced to 250 hours of community service – which she has already completed – three years of court probation, and $200,000 in restitution to the families whose cabins burned, said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Cindy Hendrickson. However, Pavese also faces two civil cases brought on by CalFire and another plaintiff that could tack millions more onto her restitution.
When initially prosecuted almost two years ago, Pavese pleaded not guilty to one charge of failing to exercise reasonable care in the disposal of flammable materials and improper use of an incinerator – a misdemeanor that carries up to six months in prison and $1,000 in fines. Negotiating with insurance companies delayed the case for two years, Hendrickson said.
“That’s why it’s taken so long – because insurance companies move so slow,” she said.
Pavese already paid the $200,000, which made whole two of the three families affected, both in terms of the structures that burned and the personal property they lost. However, one victim, Dan Straus, has not yet been compensated for some of the personal property lost in the blaze, Hendrickson said. Straus sued Pavese in August 2008, according to court documents. He referred all questions to his attorney, who did not return phone calls.
Hendrickson estimated Straus’ claim to be between $250,000 and $450,000.
“They’ll sort out the value of the items lost in the civil case,” she said.
The cost of the CalFire claim filed earlier this month was not apparent from court documents and a CalFire representative did not return a phone call. A conference to sort out costs will be held 3:45 p.m. Jan. 26.
The criminal case will not officially come to a close until the civil cases conclude and final restitution is determined, Hendrickson said.
About 10:30 a.m. Sept. 3, 2007, Pavese started the blaze when she left an illegal and poorly maintained burn barrel full of paper plates unattended for about three hours, prosecutors said.
The flames spread from the bottom of the barrel because grass had grown into it. The resulting fire raged for eight days, charring 47,760 acres of Henry Coe Park – or about one-third of the state’s second-largest park – according to CalFire. The fire also destroyed four cabins and 11 outbuildings.
The district attorney did not pursue felony or arson charges because the fire was not set intentionally, prosecutors said.
“We charged as is because she didn’t intend to cause harm,” Hendrickson said. “It was negligence but obviously people needed to be paid back and she needed to be held accountable.”
