Prosecutor: Suspected Arsonist Wanted to 'Feel The Excitement' Of Starting Fire
VERNAL, Utah (AP) - A Utah man accused of starting a wildfire to "feel the excitement of it" is now charged with arson.
Prosecutors say in charges filed Monday that 37-year-old Rex Richard Olsen of Roosevelt used a cigarette and match combination as a delayed ignition device to start the June 9 blaze in eastern Utah.
The fire torched about 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) and briefly forced a neighborhood near Vernal to evacuate. Prosecutors say damage is estimated at more than $800,000.
Prosecutors say that fire investigators traced the cigarette to Olsen using video showing him buying that type of cigarette at a gas station.
Olsen was charged with felony arson and a misdemeanor violation of wildfire-prevention law.
No attorney or publicly listed phone number was immediately available for Olsen.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.
