Man cremating his dog arrested for starting Colorado wildfire

By Logan Smith, CNN

The Bucktail Fire in August. Photo: GMUG Fire Information/Facebook

Brent Garber, 63, is accused of entering private property to cremate his recently euthanised dog and igniting what became a 7200-acre wildfire that burn for almost two weeks and caused at least US$200,000 (NZ$334,168) in property damage, according to case documents.

The Bucktail Fire was reported on private land in the Bucktail drainage about 10km northeast of Nucla near Montrose County Road 25 the morning of 1 August. The fire quickly spread onto federal government-owned land. It was mapped by aircraft at 111 acres in size an hour and a half after it was reported. By 8pm that night, it measured 1760 acres.

A first responder who was driving toward the column of smoke that morning saw Garber riding an all-terrain vehicle in the opposite direction. The Montrose County Sheriff's Office commander recognized Garber: "I know Brent resides in a camper on (US Bureau of Land Management) property" along 25 Road, the commander wrote in his report.

The commander drove toward the fire's apparent origin and found a set of well-worn ATV tracks beyond a gate and fence displaying "No Trespassing" and "Private Property" signs.

Investigators returned with the commander to the property's entrance the next day. They walked to a rock outcropping where a small cave - a "dugout," as the commander described, about five feet deep - contained the partially burned carcass of a dog. Nearby, etched into a flat rock, were the words, "OCT 2017 July 2024 Rocket Dog Rest."

Another Montrose deputy described scorch marks exiting a top corner of the hole's entrance. And from there, "other scorch marks and blackened areas which lead from the cave to the rest of the area that was damaged by the fire."

Garber, having communicated with the Montrose commander days before the blaze about his intent to bury his dog on private property, was eventually brought in for questioning. Garber asked for an attorney and answered few questions.

However, investigators found a neighbour whom Garber alleged conversed with two hours after starting the fire. The neighbour stated the Garber was "distraught" and confessed to placing the dog in the pit then placing wood inside and lighting the wood on fire. Garber also told the neighbour he threw an aerosol can inside the pit. The can exploded and flew out of the pit, setting a tree on fire. The fire then spread to other trees, as retold by the neighbour.

The neighbour stated Garber tried to put the fire out with a shovel "but it was so hot he could not get next to it." Garber then left the scene on his four-wheeler.

The Bucktail Fire required 11 aircraft and more than 100 firefighters and support crew members to contain and extinguish. There were no evacuations ordered and no injuries reported during the firefight.

A local judge had ordered Garber's dog euthanized in late July after it fought with another dog, according to Garber's affidavit.

Garber was arrested 6 September and formally charged with two felony counts of arson and a trespassing offence. A search of online public records shows Garber has no other felony criminal history in Colorado.

- CNN