Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Sparking Fire
An unemployed cook pleaded innocent Friday in federal court to starting a wildfire that threatened some of the world’s largest and oldest trees.
Peri Dare Van Brunt, 45, was charged with lighting a campfire without a permit, sparking a blaze in July that has burned nearly 150,000 acres in Sequoia and Inyo national forests and endangered groves of giant sequoias.
Van Brunt, of Bakersfield, was surrounded by relatives as she left court, and declined to comment on the charges that could put her behind bars for five years.
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