Lost Lake Fire

On a hot, windy, and dry Tuesday afternoon, June 5, 2012, I was sitting in my office and could smell smoke.  I went outside to look and see where the smoke was coming from.  From the parking lot I could see the Boulder Mountain covered in smoke and I could even see the flames shooting above the smoke. As the day wore on, the smoke got worse.  Inside my office the smell was so strong that I could hardly work and it was starting to give me a headache.  I was wondering if the USFS was doing a controlled burn and my first thoughts were "If the smoke is this bad in Bicknell I wonder how bad it is going to be in Teasdale and Torrey."

 

 

 

On my way home from work I took a few pictures of the smoke.  From Highway 24 you couldn't even begin to see Teasdale which was completely engulfed in smoke. As I was driving through Torrey you could see ash falling from the sky and the smell was so bad that it was almost unbearable. 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

It wasn't very long before we learned that the fire was a Forest Fire intentionally started by someone.  People were being evacuated from their homes, fires crew were rolling in, people were having troubles with their breathing and most of all they were scared.  The Lost Lake Fire would eventually grow to more than 2,300 acres and take two weeks to extinguish. A handful of homes had to be evacuated, although none were destroyed.  The USFS put a price tag of $3.2 million on containment.  As the week progressed, and pieces started falling in place, I started talking to Shane about my suspicions that someone we knew had started this fire.  I was literally sick to my stomach.  He made the comment that he had the same suspicions.  He had even contacted this person and asked him about it. 

 

I remember the phone call I received just like it was yesterday telling me that Lance had gone to turn himself in for starting the fires.  I was speechless.  I immediately contacted Shane to see what we needed to do. We decided to wait until Lance contacted us to see what he needed us to do.

 

On September 24, 2012 Lance was sentenced to spend 180 days in the Sevier County jail, followed by five years of probation for one count of  second-degree felony arson. The family was crushed. However, we were extremely grateful that he was getting a reduced sentence and that the judge showed leniency in the case. I am also very grateful for the opportunity we have to learn from our mistakes and not let them define who we are.  There is no doubt in my mind that if Lance makes good choices as a result of a lack of judgment he will definitely come out of this a better person.