Two Ojai Teenagers Plead Guilty to Starting 4,300-Acre December Fire

Hoping for leniency, two Ojai teenagers pleaded guilty Wednesday to setting off illegal fireworks and sparking a devastating brush fire in December that destroyed one home and burned 4,300 acres of forest.

Jonathan Barrett, the son of Ojai’s police chief, and Brett Schwermer, both 18, withdrew their earlier pleas of not guilty during separate hearings in Ventura County Superior Court. Each pleaded guilty to one felony count of recklessly starting a fire that burned a house and one misdemeanor count of burning personal property, a mailbox.

Prosecutors plan to dismiss a felony count of recklessly burning forest land. The teenagers are to be sentenced by Judge Steven Hintz on June 29.

Although the felony charge they still face carries a possible four-year prison sentence, prosecutors have agreed not to push for prison time. Instead, Schwermer and Barrett will face as much as a year in county jail.

But defense lawyers want their clients to avoid any jail time. They plan to ask Hintz to place the youths on probation and order them to perform community service.

“Obviously it’s our hope that we can convince the judge that everyone would be better off, including these two boys, to not have them go to jail,” said attorney Jay Johnson, who represents Schwermer.

Johnson said an appropriate punishment would be to order the teens to clear brush, replant trees or help to rebuild the Sisar Road home that was destroyed in the fire.

“They could cut firebreaks, they could work at the fire department doing grunt work,” Johnson said. “I’d say anything the people of Ojai want them to do.”

Attorney James Farley, who represents Barrett, said he has talked to homeowner Tom Forgea about having his client help rebuild the house. Farley said Forgea, a retired probation officer, was open to the idea.

Tom and Gloria Forgea lost everything in the fire: a house they had lived in for 25 years, a coin collection and personal property. They escaped with only their pets.

“A lot of damage was done,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Mary Peace, adding that she was glad the teenagers accepted responsibility for the fire.

As for the defense proposal, Peace said: “I need to see exactly what is proposed. I think it is something we may consider, but we need to see the specifics of it first.”

The fire started off Koenigstein Road in Upper Ojai about 8:30 p.m on Dec. 21 and quickly moved northwest toward Ojai, forcing evacuations and threatening the Thacher School and Ojai Valley School.

Authorities say the blaze started when the defendants ignited illegal fireworks, including bottle rockets and a Roman candle, in a neighbor’s mailbox. According to grand jury transcripts, Schwermer may have been trying to get back at a teenage neighbor who had borrowed a CD and not returned it.

About 1,600 firefighters worked through Christmas to extinguish the blaze, at an estimated cost of nearly $5 million.

Whether Barrett and Schwermer may be ordered to repay any part of those costs remains a question.

Peace said Wednesday that she was uncertain whether the costs would be included in a restitution amount to be determined by the probation department or handled separately in a civil lawsuit.

But she does expect the teenagers to be ordered to pay restitution to victims of the fire, including the Forgeas and ranchers who lost avocado groves.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, both can be required to pay for “all properties damaged as a result of the fire.” Peace said she was uncertain of the dollar amount, but added, “I’m sure it’s very significant.”

Johnson said the bill could easily reach into the millions. Unless his client “hits the lottery,” he said, there is no way he will be able to pay such a fine.

Schwermer graduated from Nordhoff High School in Ojai last year and has been working at his father’s construction company after losing a job because of the publicity about the case, Johnson said.

He said Schwermer pleaded guilty Wednesday because he “was not interested in prolonging this” and feels remorseful for what happened.

“He’s devastated--it’s devastated the entire family,” Johnson said. As for fireworks, the lawyer added: “I don’t think he’ll ever put one of those in his hand again.”

Farley declined to comment on the possible penalties facing his client. Earlier this week, the lawyer said he hoped that the judge would consider the fact that Barrett has no criminal record and admitted his involvement early on.

Within hours of starting the fire, Barrett told his father, James Barrett, that he and Schwermer were responsible.

“He’s a good kid,” Farley said of his client, a senior at Nordhoff High who is expected to graduate next month. “I don’t see how jail is going to do a darn thing for him.”

Barrett and Schwermer were indicted by the Ventura County Grand Jury on Jan. 27 and allowed to turn themselves in to police the next day. They remain free on $10,000 bail.