BLM Law Enforcement Cases: Public tip leads to arrest of suspect who started Idaho wildfire

On Aug. 20, 2011, a human-caused wildland fire started on BLM- managed public lands near Emmett, Idaho. BLM fire investigators were able to locate the origin of the fire, but they were unable to determine a specific cause of the fire. The case was closed because there were no suspects identified.  

In March 2012, an Emmett resident was eating at a local restaurant when he overheard two young men discussing a fire that a friend of theirs had started. The concerned citizen was able to get the license plate of the vehicle the young men were in as they left the restaurant and reported it to the BLM.

BLM law enforcement interviewed several witnesses who implicated one suspect. With this information, officers were able to confront an eyewitness to the fire.  The eyewitness also made one of the first calls to 911 reporting the fire and had originally fabricated a lie about where he and the suspect were when the fire started.  

On Feb. 12, 2013, a BLM agent, BLM fire investigator and a cooperating witness testified before a federal grand jury in Boise. The grand jury returned with an indictment for one count of setting public lands on fire.

The fire burned 315 acres; 221 of those acres were public land. The total cost of suppressing the fire was approximately $80,000.

In July 2013, the defendant pleaded guilty to setting public lands on fire. He was later sentenced to 60 days home detention, five years of probations and ordered to pay $78,334.15 in restitution.