Barton freed after 6 years for starting Colorado's worst fire

The Associated Press ^ | 06/02/2008

[george76]

Terry Lynn Barton has been released from prison after serving a six-year term for starting the worst wildfire in Colorado's recorded history.

Barton, 44, pleaded guilty to arson charges stemming from the 2002 Hayman Fire, which blackened 138,000 acres, destroyed 133 homes and forced more than 8,000 people to evacuate.

She was a fire spotter for the U.S. Forest Service at the time

[dynachrome]

Man, 6 years gone by since that fire.

FREEP THIS POLL ***PING!*** FRmail me if you want to be added or removed from the Fearless Poll-Freeping Freepers Ping list. And be sure to ping me to any polls that need Freepin', if I miss them. (looks like a medium volume list) (gordongekko909, founder of the pinglist, stays on the list until his ghost signs up for the list)

[Harrius Magnus]

Or shall we soon start handing out 30 years for spanking your own children?

 Is it just me or are more people on FR "arguing" like liberals?  And if you don't understand or take offense, you may be the Oracle of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

[george76]

Sometimes it seems like yesterday.

[dynachrome]

I had been hiking in that general area 2 weeks before the fire and the Forest Service was putting out a small wildfire where I was. Always wondered if she was one of them.

[george76]

Excellent point.

Some worry that she may start another fire, now that she is out.

Hopefully, her parole officer is not swamped with lots of other cases.

[goldfinch]

Fact is simple, forest fires happen, whether by a human being doing something stupid or lighting

The thing that makes her actions worse was that it was a terribly dry year. There was a total fire ban in the National Forests in Colorado. Part of her job was to enforce that ban. There were already several fires burning in Colorado. She knew the conditions. And, still, she started a fire.

Did she start it to burn a letter from her husband? Or did she start it hoping she would be a hero when she put it out? She is the only one who knows for sure.

This wasn't one of those fires that 'happen'. This was a fire that was deliberately set by a woman who was being paid to prevent a fire from happening. She ruined a lot of people's lives. Her actions lead to the deaths of several people. She killed a lot of animals, domestic and wild. And she lied and lied and lied and lied about her actions.

Put me on the side of those who think her prison term was far too short.

[cookcounty]

Whether people in Colorado are left or right, they don’t much like morons like Barton messing with the forests. Another 20 years would have been appropriate.

[cherry]

6 yrs is good enough....this wasn't a deliberate crime, more likely a stupid accident....

I want the people that hurt children to be taking up space in prison, not the ones caught up in freakish accidents.....

[wireplay]

I want the people that hurt children to be taking up space in prison, not the ones caught up in freakish accidents.....

Ok, I was at the fire briefings in Woodland Park every day. I doubt if you were there when the people who lived in certain subdivisions were called in and came out being carried by their families because they lost everything. Or talkign to your local waiter who had no place to sya because his house burned down.

How about making decisions on which personal items you were supposed to take with you since you were being evacuated? Levae the pictures of the kids or take the furniture given by grandma?

How about the woman who died on the 1st day? Arson resulting in death is called MURDER.

She tried to be a hero and it got out of control. She committed murder and it should be the sentence, whether stupidly or not.

To watch a 300 foot wall of flame, several miles wide approaching your house is a sight I will never forget. I will also never forgive her for what she put Woodland Park and the surrounding communities through: she deserves a life sentence for murder at a minimum.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

The whole “jilted-wife burning love-letters” story fell apart pretty quick under questioning. It wasn’t an accident, she was a fire-spotter looking for attention by doing just that—spotting a fire. And as a bonus, the fire that she started would ensure that she would collect some good overtime. That’s job security. Unfortunately, she grossly underestimated how fast the fire would spread. 138,000 acres and 133 homes later, the entire state of Colorado hates her guts forever.