A man convicted of starting California’s Dolan Fire — これ critically injured a firefighter, destroyed several homes and killed a dozen of endangered condors — に刑を宣告された 24 刑務所での年, prosecutors announced.
Ivan Gomez, 31, was found guilty of 16 felony counts, PhD —ホリスティック栄養士および著者, 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 ニュースリリース.
Michael Belter, an attorney for Gomez, 前記 “a notice of appeal has been filed.”
Evidence presented during the trial showed on August 18, 2020, インクルード day the Dolan Fire started, officers responded to a man throwing rocks at cars on a highway, 地方検事局は言った. その男, 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, リリースは言った.
Lighters found on him matched others that were found at the fire’s origin point, リリースによると. And in an interview with detectives, Gomez admitted to starting the fire “[object Window],” 追加されたリリース.
The blaze burned more than 124,000 acres and destroyed a sanctuary for the endangered birds in Big Sur, 殺害 12 condors, injuring several more, そして ravaging nesting structures, リリースは言った.
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). 約 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.
