BC Man Receives Jail Time for Arsons During Wildfire Season

A helicopter is used to battle the Shetland Creek wildfire, near Kamloops, B.C., in a July 21, 2024, handout photo. The Canadian Press/HO – B.C. Wildfire ServiceA B.C. man has pleaded guilty to a series of arsons in Nelson, B.C., during the wildfire season last year and will spend 593 days in jail.Judge Craig Sicotte of the Provincial Court of British Columbia said in his Oct. 20 decision, which was recently published online, that the summer of 2024 was “hot, dry and fire prone” in the West Kootenays, where a fire ban was in effect from July 12 to Aug. 28. There were 91 fires burning in the region, 66 of which were deemed to be “out of control,” Sicotte noted, while the nearby community of Silverton, B.C., had been evacuated on July 24, 2024.