A landowner responsible for an open burn that ignited a wildfire in B.C.'s Cariboo region is on the hook for about $450,000 after an appeals commission rejected his claim that the real cause was arson by his neighbours' troubled grandson. Last week, a panel of the Forest Appeals Commission largely dismissed Clarke Matthiesen's appeal of cost recovery orders for the April 2019 blaze, finding his alternative explanation was 'both unproven and unlikely.
' The evidence strongly supported investigators' conclusion that a holdover fire from an improperly extinguished 224-square-metre open burn was to blame, panel chair James Carwana wrote
Landowner Open Burn Wildfire Cariboo Region Appeals Commission Arson Neighbours Grandson
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more: