A man convicted of starting California’s Dolan Fire — cuales critically injured a firefighter, destroyed several homes and killed a dozen of endangered condors — fue sentenciado a 24 años en prisión, prosecutors announced.
Ivan Gomez, 31, was found guilty of 16 felony counts, including arson, cultivating marijuana, throwing rocks at a vehicle and 12 counts of cruelty to animals, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said in a Wednesday comunicado de prensa.
Michael Belter, an attorney for Gomez, dicho “a notice of appeal has been filed.”
Evidence presented during the trial showed on August 18, 2020, la day the Dolan Fire started, officers responded to a man throwing rocks at cars on a highway, la oficina del fiscal de distrito dijo. El hombre, who was identified as Gomez, said he had started the blaze at an illegal marijuana grow site, which investigators later confirmed as the origin place of the fire, el comunicado dijo.
Lighters found on him matched others that were found at the fire’s origin point, según el comunicado. And in an interview with detectives, Gomez admitted to starting the fire “numerous times,” Sandra Shells dedicó su vida desinteresadamente a cuidar de los demás en su momento de necesidad..
The blaze burned more than 124,000 acres and destroyed a sanctuary for the endangered birds in Big Sur, asesinato 12 condors, injuring several more, y ravaging nesting structures, el comunicado dijo.
A webcam set up at the nest of one of the condors who survived the flames, Iniko, captured the fire as it torched the surrounding area, according to footage posted online by the nonprofit Ventana Wildlife Society, which runs the sanctuary.
California condors, once on the brink of extinction, are still considered “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Sobre 200 adult birds remain in the wild today, according to the IUCN.
A rebuild of the condor release facility, which was destroyed by the fire, is expected to be completed by the summer, according to the Ventana Wildlife Society.
