Posted on 07/03/2004 8:19:19 AM PDT by snopercod
CRIPPLE CREEK - All Hayman fire-starter Terry Barton has to do to repay the victims of Colorado’s worst wildfire is hit the Powerball drawing.
Barton, 39, a former U.S. Forest Service worker, pleaded guilty to starting the fire that burned almost 138,000 acres last summer and was ordered by a state court to pay restitution. She owes $27,552,557.11, according to a court document filed Monday.
Barton’s debt was determined from reported losses of $30,561,567 minus $3,009,010.89 insurance companies paid.
Private losses totaled more than $16 million in Douglas County, $13.76 million in Teller County, $660,000 in Park County and $129,000 in Jefferson County, according to a report prepared by Douglas County sheriff’s Capt. Anthony Spurlock.
Losses are probably much higher, but many people didn’t return damage surveys because they felt they were a waste of time, Spurlock said.
Surveys were sent to people who were on Hayman fire evacuation lists and to property owners who asked their county assessors for reappraisals because of Hayman fire damage. Fewer than half of those who received surveys responded, Spurlock said.
“A lot of people told us they think it’s a waste of time and the government’s money to try to track down payments from someone who’s never going to pay them back,” he said.
Prosecutors admit Barton is unlikely to be able to pay restitution. Submitting a restitution amount to the courts is required by state law, however, and can be useful if defendants get unexpected cash, said Dan May, assistant district attorney with the 4th Judicial District, which includes Teller and El Paso counties.
“We have had cases in which people actually won the lottery or got some other windfall at some point in the future,” May said. “If you don’t have any kind of restitution down, people don’t get paid.”
The fire damaged or destroyed 208 houses in Teller County, 38 houses in Douglas County, 29 in Park County and three in Jefferson County, Spurlock’s report said. There were 525 victims in Teller County, 342 in Park County, 525 CQin Douglas County and 23 in Jefferson County.
The restitution figures include private losses suffered by residents and landowners in the four counties. They do not include damage on federal land such as national forests.
Federal prosecutors originally sought $14 million in restitution from Barton, but a judge in February threw out that portion of the sentence. U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch said it would be too complex to figure the wildfire’s damage and said he would not sentence Barton to a “life of poverty.”
Federal prosecutors filed an appeal Monday with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing Barton should be ordered to pay $14.7 million, the amount spent to restore the watershed in the Pike National Forest.
The appeal contested the complexity and itemized the costs to restore the watershed. The federal government is not seeking restitution for the cost of fighting the fire or the destroyed habitat.
Barton is serving a six-year federal sentence in Texas after pleading guilty in December to setting the fire June 8 in Pike National Forest. She will then serve the remainder of a 12-year state sentence that runs simultaneously with the federal punishment. Barton pleaded guilty in state court to fourth-degree arson.
Barton said the fire began accidentally when she burned a letter from her estranged husband.
Her state sentence is being appealed.
Barton’s public defender said the state judge who sentenced her did so improperly because he assisted in relief efforts and voluntarily evacuated his Teller County home when the fire appeared headed his way.
bump
The few. The proud. Your Federal employees.
Was this fire started by the flamers at the "Hey Man, What's Up Rodeo"?
I just went through this area three days ago on a vacation with my family.
On top of Pikes peak a snow storm broke out. First time my kid has seen snow. Had to get a ranger and a plow to get a bunch of us out, I'd say 5 inches in about an hour.
The area is just beautiful.
Silverton, Ouray, Durango. Can't imagine anyone torching it.
Bet the kids loved it!
suprisingly my 17 year old kid has just stared in amazement at GODS most wonderful work.
In My jeep we went into a place called the alpine loop that I wouldn't do again in a hummer . Maybe a 250 dirt bike.
Elk, deer, beaver, and a lot of grounde critter I;ve never seen.
A little camping and a little motel living and Wow what masterpiece after masterpiece GOD made.
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