Two Sentenced in Connection With 2007 Malibu Wildfire
The November 2007 fire destroyed at least 53 homes and prompted the evacuation of 14,000 residents
Thursday, Sep 9, 2010 | Updated 1:45 PM PST
Weldon Harrison
A corral fire off of Willbarger in Fort Worth this moring. At least one horse was killed and two or more were seen running from the fire as firemen fought to save them.
Two of the five young people who fed a bonfire that got out of control and burned 53 homes in the Malibu area were sentenced Thursday to a year in jail and ordered to pay millions of dollars in restitution.
Brian Alan Anderson, 25, and William Thomas Coppock, 26, earlier pleaded no contest to recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury and recklessly causing a fire to an inhabited structure.
"I'm still amazed at the devastation and the loss ... the damage is incalculable," Judge Susan Speer told the defendants. "You acted with reckless disregard. My deepest sympathy to all the victims."
Prosecutors said the two men added fuel to a bonfire started by others in a cliff-top cave in a closed state park in the mountains above Malibu on Nov. 24, 2007, causing it to turn into the Corral fire that destroyed 53 homes and prompted the evacuation of 14,000 area residents.
Although they were sentenced to a year in jail, they will get credit for 200 days already spent behind bars, leaving them with 165 days to serve.
They were also sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay restitution to all victims. The exact amount will be the subject of an Oct. 20 restitution hearing. What is known is that fire department expenses alone amount to $7 million.
They were also sentenced to 500 hours community service and ordered to write letters of apology to the fire department and each victim.
Two other defendants, Dean Allen Lavorette and Eric Matthew Ullman, face charges stemming from the fire and are also scheduled to appear before Speer Oct. 20.
A fifth man, Brian David Franks, testified against the others. He entered a no contest plea in 2008 and was sentenced to five years probation and 300 hours of community service.
