The U.S. Forest Service worker who started the worst wildfire in Colorado history should pay the state restitution of more than $44 million, according to a restitution payment order prepared by prosecutors in the case.
John Newsome, district attorney for El Paso and Teller County, said today that the amount being sought from Terry Lynn Barton is about $14 million higher than the original estimate of $30 million made several years ago.
The new figure, Newsome said, is based on a thorough review of claims made by numerous insurance companies and victims of the Hayman fire.
“The victims have the right to ask for restitution,” said Newsome. “We want to present all their claims to the court.”
Newsome is asking that Barton be ordered to repay $44,545,879.01 . He also wants her to pay restitution “covering the actual costs of any and all specific future treatment of any victim.”
The June 2002 blaze torched 138,000 acres, destroyed 133 homes and 466 outbuildings, and forced the evacuation of 8,000 residents. Five firefighters were killed as they traveled to Colorado to fight the blaze.
Barton spent six years in jail for starting the fire in the mountains west of Colorado Springs. She told authorities she was burning papers in a campground fire ring in the Pike National Forest that outlined a separation agreement with her estranged husband when the fire raged out of control.
Newsome said the restitution payment order will be presented to a judge. The judge also will hear arguments from Barton’s attorneys, who may argue that the figure is too high and simply beyond Barton’s ability to pay.
Newsome said that under Colorado law, however, the “victims are entitled to it and entitled to try to collect it.
“The fire caused a tremendous impact,” the prosecutor said. “The damage done to their land is going to last beyond our lifetime.”
Barton, 44, was released from a federal prison early this month and returned to Colorado to begin serving a lengthy probation.
After reporting to probation officials, Barton had to find a place to live and a job to begin paying back $14.6 million in restitution to the Forest Service — for emergency measures to revegetate the ravaged Pike National Forest — and the $44 million the state has determined is its restitution cost.
As part of her 15-year probation, Barton must perform community service in either Teller, Jefferson, Park or Douglas counties, where the fire took place.
It is not known whether she will serve her restitution in the mountain towns touched by the flames or in different parts of those counties.
Barton originally had been sentenced to spend 12 years in prison — the first six on federal charges and the last six in Colorado on state charges. But because of a technicality, she was resentenced in March and was allowed to serve the sentences concurrently.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
