Alaska charter company pays $900,000 after guide likely caused wildfire by failing to properly extinguish campfire
CBSN
An Alaska fishing guide company has paid $900,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. government alleging one of its guides caused a wildfire in 2019, the U.S. attorney's office for Alaska said in a statement Wednesday.
Court documents said the Groves Salmon Charters' guide, Joshua McDonald, started a campfire on July 8, 2019 at a campground around Mile 16 of the Klutina River near Copper Center, about 160 miles northeast of Anchorage, to keep fishermen warm. Later that day, a large forest fire along the Klutina River was reported near that area.
The government alleges McDonald started the campfire despite knowing there was a high fire danger at the time. Investigators determined the wildfire started after he failed to properly extinguish the campfire, according to the statement.
