A 51-year-old San Juan Bautista schoolteacher was charged
Wednesday with starting the Lick Fire and faces up to six months in
jail, according to the county district attorney’s office.
Gilroy – A 51-year-old San Juan Bautista schoolteacher was charged Wednesday with starting the Lick Fire and faces up to six months in jail, according to the county district attorney’s office. She could also be saddled with a $1,000 fine and be forced to pay the $12.5 million cost of fighting the fire if convicted.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Margaret Pavese for failing to exercise reasonable care in the disposal of flammable materials, a misdemeanor that carries up to six months in prison and $1,000 in fines. At 10:30am Labor Day, Pavese started the blaze, which charred 47,760 acres of Henry W. Coe State Park, when she left an illegal and poorly maintained “burn barrel” full of paper plates unattended for about three hours outside her hillside seasonal cabin near the park.
The flames, which spread from the bottom of the incinerator because grass had grown into it, raged for the next eight days, charring one-third of the state’s second-largest park and destroying four cabins and 11 outbuildings. More than 1,700 firefighters, about 250 vehicles and nearly 20 aircraft were used to battle the blaze.
The attorney’s office decided not to pursue felony or arson charges because it was not set intentionally, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Frank Carrubba said.
“She immediately took full responsibility for the fire,” he said. “We filed the charges that we felt was most appropriate.”
Early reactions to the news from Bay Area bloggers resulted in numerous postings that railed against Pavese and wrote that she got off easy. A few readers claimed that a driver who accidentally hits a power line and sparks a similar fire would likely get stiffer charges.
However, the fire was not a total loss for this area, said Carrubba.
“What is ironic is that much of that area had been scheduled for a controlled burn anyway,” he said. “There were benefits to the fire. However, it would not have been necessary to spend $13 million to fight it.”
The attorney’s office could have charged Pavese with unlawfully causing a fire, which can be either a misdemeanor or felony. This charge requires the perpetrator to be reckless in their actions, which was not the case here, Carrubba said.
“We didn’t believe that this particular case rose to the level or reckless, but rather negligent,” he said.
She made attempts to prevent a fire by wetting the ground before she lit the trash in the burn barrel and kept a garden hose nearby, he said. However, Pavese had no permit to burn trash, fitted the barrel with a mesh screen with larger than 0.25-inch holes and did not clear the area 10-feet around the barrel before burning – all misdemeanor violations, Carrubba said.
After lighting the fire, Pavese went inside the cabin to be with relatives. Carrubba said. She went back outside three hours later when she heard sounds of “running water,” which were actually the sounds of flames, he said. At this point, she tried to fight the fire, which had spread into the nearby area. Unable to get cell phone reception, she fired three shotgun shots to alert her husband. When CalFire arrived on the scene 30 minutes later, they found the Paveses continuing to fight the fire.
Pavese, who is expected to self-surrender and be fingerprinted before being released pending a court date, did not return repeated phone calls and was not at home when a reporter stopped by her house Wednesday afternoon.
If convicted, Pavese could be forced to pay restitution charges for the cost of fighting the fire. The exact cost and how it is paid will be determined by the probation department and the county courts based on recommendations from CalFire.
The largest CalFire bill was filed against PG&E after a power line sparked the Campbell Fire in 1990. The company was charged for $8.2 million, but settled with CalFire on a $5-million payment.
With an individual, the bill will be tailored to their means, retired CalFire cost recovery officer Chris Parker said in a Sept. 10 interview.
“If they can’t pay, that doesn’t mean they get off free, but we don’t take all their money either,” he said. “We’re not going to enforce a $1 million judgment against someone who can’t pay for their next meal.”
