Man banned from Nelson, B.C., sentenced for arson during heat of 2024 wildfire season
CBC
A man from Nelson B.C., has been sentenced to two years, less a day, in custody after lighting four separate fires in three locations around the city in the heat of the 2024 wildfire season.
David Travis, 45, was sentenced in October in a Nelson Provincial courtroom, just over a year after being arrested for three counts of arson.
A sentencing report outlining the Travis' actions, the sentencing decision and conditions of his parole, was published online in December.
In the decision, Judge Craig Sicotte said environmental factors like the hot dry weather and regional fire bans compound the severity of the offences.
“Intentionally lighting multiple fires in the locations that he did during hazardous fire conditions was so extremely dangerous that it created enormous risk of massive property destruction and loss of life,” said Judge Sicotte.
On July 24, 2024, the day of the arson, there were 91 active fires in B.C.’s West Kootenay region, 66 of which were burning out of control. Several communities in the region were on evacuation order due to the fires, and thick smoke was omnipresent.
Fire crews and resources from the City of Nelson were dispatched to impacted communities to fight the fires, leaving limited resources in town, said Judge Sicotte.
Also on July 24, a wildfire burned through Jasper Alta., reducing half of the mountainous city to rubble.
The sentencing report states that at 6:30 p.m., David Travis lit the first of four fires. He started a grass fire in Nelson’s Gyro Park. Two witnesses watched a man flee the scene and said the blaze spread laterally, which Judge Sicotte said likely means there were multiple ignition points.
The fire quickly grew to approximately 1000 square metres before being extinguished by the local fire department and a helicopter with a water bucket that happened to be in the area.
Travis’ backpack – containing lighters and a butane canister – was found, partially burned, at the park.
While the park fire was being extinguished, Travis broke into a nearby home that he had no connection to.
He piled cardboard and a propane canister on a desk in the house and lit it on fire. Then, he carried three full garbage bags outside and lit the third fire of the day, in the yard.
Witnesses noticed the fires and intervened, working to extinguish the blazes before damage occurred and until firefighters arrived.
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