A 16-year-old boy has been charged with third-degree arson for allegedly setting off a mortar-style firework that set 28 acres on fire in Idaho, police said.
Two Bureau of Land Management (BLM) fire crews responded to the inferno around 9 p.m. Saturday, according to the Eagle Police Department.
Following an investigation by Ada County sheriff’s deputies, evidence indicated that a group of teenagers driving a pickup truck on BLM land had started the fire with fireworks, police reported.
The others warned the unidentified 16-year-old who had allegedly set off the fireworks in the group not to light them in the area for fear it could start a brush fire, police said.
The teen allegedly ignored their warnings and detonated the explosive “a short time later” while the van was parked, causing the fire.
The group tried to put out the fire but failed.
The fire spread across 28 acres after it was allegedly started by a firework. Eagle Police/Facebook
With no other options, one of the other children in the group called emergency officials.
When officers arrived, the boy allegedly responsible for setting off the fireworks fled the van and hid in an attempt to evade arrest.
“Deputies found him a short time later next to a canal in the area” before handcuffing the teen and transporting him to the Ada County Juvenile Detention Center, according to authorities.
The 16-year-old accused of arson had allegedly disregarded warnings from the group he was with not to light fireworks for fear they could start a forest fire. Eagle Police/Facebook
Charges for the teen are still pending.
Several other agencies had to help put out the fire, and crews were able to contain it after midnight Sunday, according to the Eagle Fire Department.
It is illegal to shoot aerial fireworks in Idaho, although it is legal to purchase them in the state.
More than 2,500 of Idaho’s 9 million acres have burned statewide since early 2023, according to a government report.
Charges against the 16-year-old for starting the fire are still pending. Eagle Police/Facebook
Humans account for 117 of the 277 separate fire-related incidents.
According to KATU, over the Independence Day weekend in neighboring Washington state, fireworks were to blame for six small wildfires.
All six fires were quickly contained, Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources told the outlet in July.
The small fires prompted Franz to say that more than 48,000 acres in the state were engulfed in flames after a teenager set off fireworks on a trail in front of the Columbia River Gorge in 2017.
“That was literally just a firework. So, it shows you how dangerous it is. It shows you how important that is. “I think fighting that fire cost us more than $32 million,” Franz told the outlet.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn