After multiple delays, the case of a contractor charged with
starting the Summit Fire was again postponed while his new attorney
gets up to speed.
Channing Verden, 51, of Los Gatos pleaded not guilty to one
count of unlawfully causing a fire with an enhancement for causing
multiple structures to burn after authorities arrested him more
than a year ago.
Cal Fire officials pinpointed brush piles at a property on the
31000 block of Summit Road that Verden was hired to burn as the
source of the Summit Fire that raged for a week in May 2008, wiping
out 4,270 acres and razing 132 structures. Fighting the fire cost
more than $12 million.
Verden claimed innocence, citing gaps in the district attorney’s
reports. As a victim of California wildfires himself, he’d be the
last person to set a wildfire, he said. A date for Verden’s
preliminary hearing will be set Sept. 22.
After multiple delays, the case of a contractor charged with starting the Summit Fire was again postponed while his new attorney gets up to speed.
Channing Verden, 51, of Los Gatos pleaded not guilty to one count of unlawfully causing a fire with an enhancement for causing multiple structures to burn after authorities arrested him more than a year ago.
Cal Fire officials pinpointed brush piles at a property on the 31000 block of Summit Road that Verden was hired to burn as the source of the Summit Fire that raged for a week in May 2008, wiping out 4,270 acres and razing 132 structures. Fighting the fire cost more than $12 million.
Verden claimed innocence, citing gaps in the district attorney’s reports. As a victim of California wildfires himself, he’d be the last person to set a wildfire, he said. A date for Verden’s preliminary hearing will be set Sept. 22.
