FORT COLLINS — Thomas Howie soon will be formally charged with felony arson related to the devastating Crystal fire in Larimer County earlier this month.
But many already have convicted the 36-year-old man in their minds for negligence in handling a slash-pile burn near his parents’ home in Bellvue, west of Fort Collins.
“It was clearly somebody being dumb, burning slash on the hottest day of the year with 50 mph winds,” said Curt Busby, who fled for his life when the Crystal fire got out of control earlier this month. “A lot of people are pretty upset up there with somebody being so stupid.”
Busby lost his home in the blaze that scorched almost 3,000 acres, burned down 13 homes and cost $3 million to fight.
Sheriff’s deputies say Howie started the fire and then left the scene without reporting the blaze.
An arrest warrant for Howie is expected to be issued within 48 hours,sheriff’s spokesman John Schulz said. He will be charged with one count of fourth-degree arson, a Class Four felony.
Hundreds were evacuated during the fire’s march, including Busby and his wife.
Flames reached 50 feet high as the fire raced toward Busby’s home near Masonville late on April 3, forcing him to scramble to safety.
“If we hadn’t left when we did, we would have died,” Busby said. His home and a rental unit on his property both were destroyed.
Winds drove the flames away from the property of Howie’s parents, and their home was spared, said Nick Christensen, executive officer with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Department.
On April 6, sheriff’s investigators were contacted by Howie’s lawyer, who said his client had information about the Crystal fire and that he wanted to speak to investigators, Schulz said.
Howie subsequently met with investigators and admitted that he started the fire, Schulz said.
Howie couldn’t be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
The Crystal fire began the evening of April 1 and was one of the most costly in Larimer County history. Three firefighters were injured during suppression efforts.
The blaze was declared contained April 11, but work continued on it through Friday.
This is the second accidental fire in Larimer County to result in felony arson charges in less than a year. The Reservoir Road fire that burned 740 acres and two homes in the foothills west of Loveland in September was started by Joel Ledermann, 41, who was burning brush near his home.
Ledermann pleaded guilty to misdemeanor arson in December and received three years’ probation. He has filed notice of a possible lawsuit against 23 agencies that responded to the fire, claiming they mishandled their response.
Firefighters began battling the Reservoir Road blaze just after taking on the Fourmile Canyon fire in Boulder County, the most expensive wildfire in Colorado history.
That blaze started at the home of a longtime Fourmile Canyon Fire Department volunteer when embers from a fire pit he had used four days earlier were ignited by gusting winds. The firefighter had reported his intent to burn on his property and took precautions to extinguish his fire pit.
The Boulder district attorney declined to file charges in that fire, which charred 6,200 acres and burned 169 structures, mostly homes, including the firefighter’s. The estimated cost of insured losses is $217 million.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
