A Colorado man took a deal and pleaded responsible Wednesday to beginning a Montrose County wildfire final yr whereas making an attempt to cremate his canine, Rocket, in line with courtroom data.
Brent Garber, 64, pleaded responsible to at least one depend of tried arson, a felony, courtroom data present. He initially confronted one other three fees, together with two counts of felony arson and one depend of trespassing.
The cremation-sparked Bucktail hearth, one in every of Colorado’s largest wildfires final yr, began north of Nucla on Aug. 1, 2024. It burned 7,200 acres of personal and nationwide forest land, prompted an estimated $300,000 in damages and destroyed one dwelling, in line with Garber’s arrest affidavit.
Garber was recognized as a suspect after a Montrose County Sheriff’s Workplace commander noticed him driving away from the hearth simply minutes after it was reported.
On the hearth’s place to begin, investigators discovered a dug-out cave, the partially burned physique of a canine and a big rock with the phrases “Oct. 2017 – July 2024, Rocket Canine, Relaxation in Peace Buddy” etched on it.
Garber is scheduled to be sentenced on July 16.
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