Santa Barbara County authorities say that one of the three wildfires that eventually destroyed about 1,000 homes was started by a bonfire set by several college students, the Associated Press reports. The sheriff would not identify the students or the school they attended, but he did say that an anonymous tipster told the police that 10 students had gathered for the bonfire a week ago near an abandoned home in Montecito and thought they had extinguished the blaze at 5 a.m. on Thursday. The embers, however, eventually morphed by Thursday night into the giant blaze that has already cost California $305 million on emergency firefighting.
Authorities say they don't believe there was "malicious intent" but are still deciding whether to file criminal charges against the students, ages between 18 and 22.
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Robert of IL 12:20AM November 20, 2008
of 4:29PM November 19, 2008