A bad (and likely illegal) shooting decision, on video, ignites Arizona fire

 

05/04/2023 UPDATE:  Authorities have identified the shooter suspected of starting the Molino 2 Fire. The fire was started Sunday, April 30 and resulted in the closure of the Catalina Highway in the Santa Catalina Ranger District, Coronado National Forest. Video evidence shows the individual shooting illegal shotgun rounds and the start of the wildfire, according to KOLD-13 News.

Coronado National Forest managers and Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations expressed their appreciation to members of the public who provided multiple timely and actionable tips about the identity of the suspect who started the wildfire. Investigators identified, located, and interviewed the irresponsible gun owner, who is apparently shooting incendiary shells from a 12-gauge semiautomatic tactical shotgun with an extended magazine. The case has been referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
 ~ K.A.

__________________________________

It’s Sunday, April 30, at milepost 4.5 on the Catalina Highway, in a section of the Coronado National Forest that is a recreation gateway for Tucson, Arizona. The day reaches 100 degrees for the first time of the year, and there’s a Red Flag Warning.

Most folks might think that this is not a good day to demonstrate how adept they are at shooting a shotgun at an oddly dressed torso target with what seems to be incendiary shells. Even a worse day to demonstrate this five times, on video.

Screenshot from video, showing the target and the shooter whose identity is being sought by Coronado National Forest investigators.
Screenshot from video, showing the target and the shooter whose identity is being sought by Coronado National Forest investigators.

But the correct decision wasn’t what the unnamed man in the video elected to do. His identity is being sought by Coronado National Forest investigators in connection with the Molino 2 Fire.

The forest shared the video in a media release noting that video evidence was obtained showing the suspect and the start of the Molino 2 Fire. Video footage shows an approximately 50- to 60-year-old, white male wearing a light grey shirt with tan cargo pants approaching the scene where others with a camera were shooting at a homemade target. Upon his arrival, they stepped back and allowed him to take five shots using his own shotgun. It appears in the video the suspect had it loaded with incendiary shells  causing sparks to fly and starting the Molino 2 Fire.

The release notes that using incendiary ammo and starting a wildfire are violations of 36 CFR 261.5 (b,c) punishable by up to 6 months in jail and/or $5,000. These violations are considered Class B Misdemeanors. In addition to the fine, some of the cost may be recovered through restitution.

The fire was reported to be contained at 110 acres, with no cost estimate available. The Catalina Highway was closed for a portion of the first day of the fire, causing significant delays of a Sunday afternoon mountain traffic.

The video shows a man who shoots with enough care to wear ear protection. First, he looks back – to recognize the person with the camera, and then he turns and begins what appears to be a very conscious act – as the use of any weapons should be, by ethics and law.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/cV1hlbXff7Q

In the video embers are visible flying from where the target is hit, bouncing off surrounding rocks. The shooter fires a total of five shells until he empties his shotgun.

A still-frame from the video. Source: Coronado National Forest.

At 34 seconds into the video, the camera pans left and focuses on nearly a dozen little spot fires. Within 15 seconds the flamelengths are 2-3 feet high and the spots burn together into three distinct fires at the base of a canyon chute.

The techniques and success of fire prevention are often framed by the Three E’s – Education, Engineering and Enforcement. All three E’s are in place in this section of the Catalina Highway (which I know well, as it leads to some of my favorite hiking and running routes, and I’ve managed fires there in the past). With education having already been ignored by the shooter, and the engineering being crossed (since most of this area is closed and flagged off along the highway), then the third E of enforcement is the last tool left, with a 49-second video to support the case, as well as 110 acres of burnt desert and grassland as evidence.

Anyone with information regarding this incident and the suspected shooter is asked to call 520-388-8343 or email the Coronado National Forest at Mailroom_R3_Coronado@usda.gov

Molino 2 Fire, Coronado National Forest. April 30, 2023..

Range Fire at Orem, UT started from target shooting at police gun range

October 19, 2020   |   2:58 p.m. MDT

Range Fire
A DC-10 drops retardant on the Range Fire at Orem, Utah October 18, 2020. Photo by @bleewilliamson

Investigators have determined that the 3,450-acre Range Fire at Orem, Utah was started by target shooting at the police department’s gun range on the east side of the city. The police officer who was present is cooperating with investigators.

Range Fire origin

From the Incident Management Team, Monday, October 19, 2020:

“Fire activity on the Range Fire was minimal overnight, growth was significantly slowed by natural features. Firefighters completed a successful burn out operation last night to secure the southeast corner of the fire. Today, firefighters will be constructing hand line directly along the western perimeter of the fire. Crews will continue to mop up along the heel of the fire. Aircraft will assist ground resources by dropping water on hot spots as needed in areas where the terrain is too steep for firefighters to safely access.”

Resources assigned include 6 hand crews, 14 fire engines, and 6 helicopters for a total of 150 personnel. The estimated cost to date is $300,000.

Range Fire, Oct. 18, 2020 Orem Utah
Range Fire, Oct. 18, 2020. Photo by @tomigotchiii

“Experts” defend hunter accused of starting fire when bullet struck a rock

A controversy is brewing in New Zealand about the ability of a bullet to start a fire when it strikes a rock. Below is an excerpt from an article at TVNZ.co.NZ:

Experts on fires and firearms are offering to help a Dunedin hunter fight the Otago Rural Fire Authority which is fining him over a bushfire. Tom Dodds has been accused of starting the fire, which he called in, and he’s been charged more than $60,000 by the fire authority for the cost of putting it out.

Seven Sharp reported earlier in the week that the fire investigator believes Mr Dodds’ bullet ricocheted off a rock, bounced 80 metres and hit another rock, which caused the fire 45  minutes later.

The programme reported last night it has received a lot of feedback on the case, including expert opinions from fire and firearms investigators.

One was straight to the point, calling the authority’s version of events impossible. Another, with 40 years experience, had never heard of a bullet causing a fire.

Causing a fire 45 minutes later is difficult to comprehend unless it was smoldering before it was detected.

It is a fact, however, that it is possible for a bullet striking an object to ignite a fire. We covered research on this topic in December, 2013:

…This research shows that fires can be ignited by hot fragments of the bullets due to the heat generated when the kinetic energy of the lead, copper, or steel is transformed to thermal energy by plastic deformation and fracturing from the high-strain rates during impact…

Coincidence or not, on Thursday the National Interagency Fire Center in the U.S. distributed this tweet:

In the New Zealand case, it’s probably not sparks from the rock that created a problem, but hot metal from the bullet itself that may have started the fire. It is possible that when the bullet hit the first rock, hot metal fragments were created which flew 80 meters and landed in flammable material. A second rock may not have played a significant part.

Wildfire News, March 7, 2016

Alaska April wildfire potential
April wildfire potential in Alaska, based on vegetation conditions and weather predictions.

—Fire officials say to ‘expect an early start’ to Alaska wildfire season.

—Shooter’s tracer rounds ignite 2-day forest fire at Missouri gun range

–A proposed Utah law would enable police to shoot drones, but people have been arrested for doing so.

–A massive bushfire cut off and isolated the South Island town of Hanmer Springs, New Zealand on Tuesday (local time).

–The Arizona Wildfire Academy is taking place in Prescott this week.

—Hubbardston, Massachusetts gets military surplus truck to help battle brush fires.

Hubbardston Mass mil surplus truck
Hubbardston, Mass. military surplus truck. Photo: Hubbardston Fire Department.

Two people ordered to pay $9,450 for starting wildfire with exploding target

Two people have been ordered to pay $9,450 restitution for starting the Three Mile Fire nine miles east of Florence, Montana in August, 2014 that burned about 50 acres before firefighters extinguished it at a cost estimated at $94,000. Tristan C. Olson, 30, of Missoula and Caitlin E. Hoover, 28, of Stevensville, Montana agreed to the settlement in exchange for the felony charges being dropped. They will also have to follow specific conditions for three years, including abstaining from the consumption of alcohol and drugs or entering bars or casinos.

The fire started when an exploding target was detonated in a tree surrounded by waist-high cured grass.

Mountain lion cubs
Two mountain lion cubs that were rescued in the fire. Photo by Cory Rennaker, Bitterroot National Forest Helitack, USFS.

During the initial attack on the fire, Bitterroot National Forest firefighters rescued a pair of mountain lion cubs. The kittens, just a few weeks old, were taking shelter under a burning log. Firefighters called in a helicopter bucket drop to cool the log, and the kittens, wet from the 600 gallons of water, were rescued. They were adopted by the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo and Aquarium, and on September 23 made an appearance on David Letterman’s show along with Jack Hanna.

The two people being charged were busted at least in part by writing about their adventure on Facebook that amounted to a confession.

Exploding targets consist of two ingredients that when mixed by the end user create an explosive when shot by a high-velocity projectile. They have caused many fires since they became more popular in recent years and have been banned in some areas, and caused the death of one person. In June, 2013 a man attending a bachelor-bachelorette party in Minnesota was killed after shrapnel from the device struck him in the abdomen causing his death. The Missoulian reported that two years ago a woman in Ohio had her hand nearly blown off while taking a cellphone video of a man firing at an exploding target placed in a refrigerator about 150 feet away.

Shooters cause 250-acre fire in Colorado

The U.S. Forest Service has determined that a 250-acre fire in the Pike National Forest was caused by shooting. The Snyder Creek 2 fire was first reported Sunday afternoon three miles southeast of Kenosha Pass near Park County Road 56 approximately 19 miles North of Fairplay. There was a fire in the same area in 2011.

Firefighters battled 20 to 30 mph winds on Sunday, but expect full containment by Monday evening.

Snyder Creek 2 fire
Photo of the Snyder Creek Fire, by Park County Sheriff’s Office.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Rick and Bean.

Arson charges filed against two who started fire with exploding target, orphaning mountain lion cubs

Mountain lion cubs
Photo by Cory Rennaker, Bitterroot National Forest Helitack, USFS.

Felony arson charges have been filed against two people who allegedly started the Three Mile Fire nine miles east of Florence, Montana in August, 2014. The fire burned about 50 acres before firefighters extinguished it at a cost estimated at $94,000.

During the initial attack on the fire, Bitterroot National Forest firefighters rescued a pair of mountain lion cubs. The kittens, just a few weeks old, were taking shelter under a burning log. Firefighters called in a helicopter bucket drop to cool the log, and the kittens, although wet from the 600 gallons of water, were rescued. They were adopted by the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo and Aquarium, and on September 23 made an appearance on David Letterman’s show along with Jack Hanna.

The two people being charged were busted at least in part by writing about their adventure on Facebook that amounted to a confession. They should also be charged with Felony Dumb.

Below are excerpts from an article in the Missoulian:

Tristan C. Olson, 30, of Missoula and Caitlin E. Hoover, 28, of Stevensville are scheduled to appear Feb. 17 on a series of felony charges stemming from the Aug. 29, 2014, fire on the Three Mile Wildlife Management Area.

The fire was started by an exploding target that was lodged in a tree surrounded by waist-high cured grass. The explosion ignited the tree and the fire quickly spread.

On Aug. 29, Hoover posted on Facebook: “My old pal Tristan Olson just showed up at mi casa and woke me up with a mikes hard ass slurpie and some guns and ammo…heading for the hills…ha! Yay!!!”

The last post on Olson’s Facebook page for the same day showed a photograph of a column of smoke rising above the Three Mile WMA fire with Olson’s back facing the camera. The caption read: “Dang…”

[…]

After receiving a search warrant for Hoover’s Facebook account, the affidavit said the warden found she had deleted photos of the two shooting together on the WMA.

He also found a conversation that Hoover had with someone named “Topher Devoe” on Sept. 21. In answering Devoe’s question of “what other crazy things have you done,” Hoover responded: “I just started a forest fire by shooting an assault rifle at an exploding target and burnt down 60 acres of forest. Shhh the fire is still under investigation.”

Hoover attached the photo of the Olson watching the smoke rising from the WMA.

We have written about exploding targets many times before. The dangerous devices consist of two ingredients that when mixed by the end user create an explosive when shot by a high-velocity projectile.

Exploding targets have caused many fires since they became more popular in recent years. They have been banned in some areas, and caused the death of one person. In June, 2013 a man attending a bachelor-bachelorette party in Minnesota was killed after shrapnel from the device struck him in the abdomen causing his death. The Missoulian reported that two years ago a woman in Ohio had her hand nearly blown off while taking a cellphone video of a man firing at an exploding target placed in a refrigerator about 150 feet away.

The U.S. Forest Service has banned exploding targets in the Northern Region, which includes Montana. The Three Mile Fire occurred on state protected land in a Wildlife Management Area where target shooting is not permissible. The state of Montana has not taken action to specifically prohibit the use of exploding targets, although they can become illegal when fire restrictions are in place.

Orphaned mountain lion cubs fire
The orphaned cubs after being adopted. Photo by the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo and Aquarium.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Dick.