District Attorney Jerry Herman last week announced he will not prosecute four West Marin teenagers suspected of accidentally starting the wildfire which destroyed 45 homes on Inverness Ridge and scorched 12,000 acres of parkland last October.

However, the family of one of the four boys this week told The Light their son nonetheless accepts responsibility for maybe helping cause the damage.

And they described their own anguish at learning of his involvement.

After the five-day inferno was contained, two of the four boys, all aged 14 and 15, turned themselves in to authorities. They acknowledged illegally camping Sept. 30 on Mount Vision where the fire erupted Oct. 3.

The boys said they believed they had completely extinguished their campfire, but it apparently burned through the forest duff and surfaced just when winds were high.

However, after a three-month investigation, District Attorney Herman said Thursday there wasn't enough evidence to charge the boys.

"[Even] if these had been adults [with the] same facts," Herman told The Light Friday, "it's just not a provable reckless-burning case."

The family, who spoke anonymously to The Light this week, said they were relieved the teenagers will not be prosecuted but still must shoulder responsibility.

"There is a possibility that [the fire] wasn't ours," said the son, "but I'm not going to count on that. The best thing to do is accept responsibility." One way he'd like to do that, he said, is to volunteer for community service whether or not it's in the punishment for illegal camping.

The family would like the boys to help rehabilitate the Point Reyes National Seashore or help young people learn about fire safety. The boy's parents said other youths might respond more positively to a warning if one of their peers is giving it.

"If a fire marshal says you have to be safe, [a youth] might say, 'Yeah, right,'" his mother noted. However, added the boy's father, if a teenager said, "I burned down a forest, and I burned down 50 houses," the message might be more effective.

"The boys need to do community service," his mother agreed. "It's part of the process of making themselves okay again. They all want to do something."

Their son said he didn't realize the fire could partially have been his fault until he saw a photograph in The Light showing where the fire had started. "I saw that and burst into tears," he said. The boy immediately told his parents.

"I wanted to get up there and pick up a hose and put it out," he said, adding that he felt completely helpless. "It was definitely overwhelming. I couldn't really look people in the eyes... There was a lot of anger - from me towards myself."

His parents noted that many youths in the community knew the four boys had been camping on Mount Vision. In fact, two more boys were supposed to have gone along with the other four.

The community's outpouring of support changed their minds. "The response we got is the reason we're still here," the father said.

Added his wife, "You think you live here because its a beautiful place. But when something like this happens, you realize why you really live here."

In fact, she said, townspeople's support was almost too much to take: "You're forgiven by the community before you're forgiven by yourself."

The family said they appreciate the sensitivity with which county Fire Marshal Jack Rosevear, Tomales Bay State Park Ranger Carlos Porrata, and Point Reyes National Seashore Supt. Don Neubacher handled the investigation.

The District Attorney's decision is not the end of the story, she said. "It's not okay. There isn't anything that's going to make it okay."

"There's no way any of these families can write a check for $25,000," the father said. He also noted a threat of civil lawsuits from those who lost their homes still remains.

As for the criminal case, a reckless-burning felony could have resulted in the four boys serving time in the California Youth Authority. However, in order to convict the boys, prosecutors would have to prove four allegations, said the DA:

The person consciously disregarded the risk.

Although the first allegation is evident, Herman said pieces of evidence for the other three "don't even come close... We have to prove all four elements. If one isn't there, we haven't made it."

A joint investigation involving the District Attorney and the Sheriff's Office revealed the boys doused the campfire with water, covered it with dirt, and felt the ground with their hands to make certain the fire was out.

What's more, Herman said, investigators aren't even sure if they can prove another fire wasn't started by someone else in the same place. That spot on Mount Vision has a been popular camping spot for decades, he said, despite its being an illegal location for fires.

"People who have grown up out there say they themselves camped in that area as kids, and their kids camp there now," Herman noted.

Campfire issue dropped In addition to the shaky reckless-burning case, the District Attorney's Office chose not to pursue an illegal-campfire charge, a misdemeanor.

"I could have gone against two of the kids on the illegal campfire," Herman said, noting that two of the four voluntarily confessed to building a fire.

However, the District Attorney said, "these kids have been put through a lot already, and these are not bad kids. In light of the complete cooperation - and they had initiated contact. We just felt it was inappropriate" to charge them.

Although its the District Attorney's job to punish criminal behavior, Herman added, prosecutors also must act as the "conscience of the community," and it seemed clear the community pushed for forgiveness.

Too often "we get characterized as blood-thirsty, over-zealous prosecutors," he said.

---

Point Reyes Light Cover | News | Calendar | Coastal Traveler