'Now is not the time to be careless with fires,' Gill warns
by Pat Reavy ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- Salt Lake County District Attorney warns of criminal charges for reckless fire use.
- Matthew Jhon Nelson charged for Memory Grove fire causing $15,000 damage.
- Officials urge caution due to dry conditions and upcoming July holidays.
SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill says even if you don't mean to light a large fire or cause widespread damage, you can still be held responsible.
"If you put our community at risk through the reckless or illegal use of fireworks, you may face ... criminal charges," he said. "Now is not the time to be careless with fires."
On Tuesday, Gill announced criminal charges were filed against 43-year-old Matthew Jhon Nelson for allegedly igniting a fire in Memory Grove on Friday that burned approximately 15 trees and caused about $15,000 in damage. Nelson was charged in 3rd District Court with reckless burning and drug possession, class A misdemeanors, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.
While announcing the charges, Gill was joined by Salt Lake City Fire Chief Karl Lieb and city Fire Marshal Tony Allred to remind residents of this year's dangerously dry conditions and the upcoming July Fourth and 24th holidays.
"The conditions and the risk for wildfires right now are certainly elevated," said Lieb, who noted that if this past weekend is any indication, "It's going to be a very busy and potentially dangerous season."
"Everyone needs to take extreme caution this year, particularly this summer during the holidays," the fire chief said.
"This is not the year to not be careful with ignition sources of any sort. It is very likely that that type of use will result in endangering lives and the loss of property to you or your neighbors," Allred added.
On Friday, after a fire was reported in Memory Grove, investigators say Nelson "locked himself in a bathroom and refused to exit despite commands to do so," according to charging documents.
After police gained entry into the bathroom, they searched Nelson and "located a torch and a melatonin bottle. Inside the bottle was a plastic baggie with crystal white residual coating the inside of the bag and small white crystals like substance inside the bottle itself. The crystal-like substance field tested positive for methamphetamine," the charges state.
Investigators then found a campsite that appeared to be where the fire started.
"Cans, wrappers and logs were used in the creation of a campfire and the fire spread outward from the campsite via dry grass and dead leaves. The fire reached larger fuel loads and began to grow into shrubs and tall trees. The fire was classified as incendiary. Park staff estimated at least 15 trees would need to be replaced due to the fire damage at the cost of approximately $15,000," according to the charges.
Gill said the case is a reminder to all residents that even if there is no intention of starting a wildfire, anyone found to be reckless with a campfire or while using fireworks — even legal ones — will be prosecuted, with charges ranging from a class A misdemeanor to a first-degree felony.
"We will file criminal charges against you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law," he said while adding, "There is really no excuse for using fireworks illegally." The DA said that includes lighting fireworks outside the days allowed by state law, July 2-5, and July 22-25.
"Everyone needs to take extreme caution this year, particularly this summer during the holidays," Lieb said.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
Related topics
Utah wildfiresPolice & CourtsUtahSalt Lake County
Pat Reavy
Pat Reavy interned with KSL in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL or Deseret News since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.