Golden – A Fort Collins man who admitted he inadvertently started a 102-acre fire near Pine in May 2006 has been ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution.
John Carter Rowley received a two-year deferred sentence Monday on a fourth-degree arson charge.
Two counts of firing woods and prairies were dropped.
Rowley, who lives in Fort Collins, said he was trying to rid his property on Cochise Trail of dead branches and debris when wind began gusting.
The fire quickly got out of control. Four or five homes in Cliffdale were evacuated, and residents of more than 350 homes within 2 miles were put on alert.
About 90 firefighters from seven departments battled the blaze, which was mostly on Rowley’s property. The fire cost about $120,000 to fight.
“I feel like an idiot in hindsight,” Rowley said last year when charges were filed. Rowley said he did not think there was much left to burn after the Hi Meadow fire of 2000. “I was just trying to do cleanup.”
Three days before the fire, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office had imposed a ban on all fires, but Rowley said he didn’t know about it.
