Contractor charged with causing Summit Fire was victim of 1985 Lexington Fire

The Los Gatos contractor charged with recklessly causing the huge Summit Fire defended himself Monday in his first public interview, saying he's the last person to start a wildfire.

[uninsured because]

...he's got no permits? Send this trailer trash mountain boy to jail...

[Watching the home fires]

Apparently the candle burns at both ends!

[Dummee]

Dude...your F-ed!!

[No to Fire]

The person who would be primerally at fault would be the person who pulled the burn permit.Unless the contractor had an agreement with the owner in writing,he would be considered an employee of the owner under the owners supervision.Even if the Fire dept.gave the contractor a verbal warning,they should have given the person pulling the permit the warning.The contractor was wrong by not relaying the fire depts concerns to the permitholder/owner, but that would be for a civil court to decide and not a criminal one.Culpability follows the person who gets the permit with their written and/or implied promise to exercise the permit in a responsible manner.

[Anti-greed]

Wondering...did the owner have a major land clearing permit?

Wondering....why the county allowed such extensive clearing of sensitive habitat?

Wondering....when was the last time you met someone in the NASCAR crowd who wasn't at least one notch more reckless than your average Joe? Muscle cars, indeed. Check his groundwater (your drinking water)- oil and gas for sure.

[something not quite right]

Hopefully the whole story will come out. Even if Verden is the main culprit, he's not the only one involved. Interesting that Cal Fire declines to comment. They had multiple people out to this site and seem to have limited their actions to citations and reports. If it was such an obvious danger, they should have been out with Cal Fire trucks putting the piles out in late April or early May.

[unit]

Agro Man wrote:

<quoted text>
Can you describe what makes the habitat sensitive? Are there threatened or endangered species there?
I can name many people who enjoy motor sports and don't drive recklessly... as Lyons Dragstrip used to say "Drive the highways, race at Lyons.
That said...thie contractor was an idiot. He ignored the warnings from Cal Fire and now they are going to "fry" him.

Are you dumb? A sensitive habitat is one that has many animal species residing on it and are in danger of dieing because of human impact on the land.There! Feel better? I think you have loose idea of what driving recklessly is. I don't know anyone that's into motor sports who doesn't drive fast and impatient.

[Dionisio]

wondering...if you read the story
wondering...if auto racing scares you
wondering...what else does

[ted]

I don't even burn a tiny little pile of brush without a freakin' HOSE nearby, let alone allow 20 tons to smolder unattended for a month!!

Cal Fire should have shut him down on the spot, the first time they were called out there and found a huge pile burning and no water anywhere....

[IStartedAFireNow ImAFelon]

CalFire should have come out to the property with water, instead of a ticket book. They knew the pilers were smoldering. Why did they wait? How ridiculous. Verden can't 'make' the property owner do something that he simply refuses to do. Verden was hired help.

[Resident]

you gots to get down wrote:

<quoted text> Hey phallus face I guess your all for permits and control of every kind-a control freak like HITLER.The kind of human I hate the most.And you have the greatest justifications for your controlling nature-Mother Earth-the new religion-even more radical than the Jihadists in my mind and the greater threat to this country than terrorism-oh I forgot we already have some of the local homegrown environmental terrorists already being prosecuted.I`ll volunteer for the firing squad for you anarchist dirtbags.Oh and by the way I recycle,have an organic garden and backpack and pack my trash>But you have to draw the line somewhere!

someone needs to take their meds.......

[LibertyKid]

No to Fire wrote:

The person who would be primerally at fault would be the person who pulled the burn permit.Unless the contractor had an agreement with the owner in writing,he would be considered an employee of the owner under the owners supervision.Even if the Fire dept.gave the contractor a verbal warning,they should have given the person pulling the permit the warning.The contractor was wrong by not relaying the fire depts concerns to the permitholder/owner, but that would be for a civil court to decide and not a criminal one.Culpability follows the person who gets the permit with their written and/or implied promise to exercise the permit in a responsible manner.

You must be Lawyer fishing for new business. Why are you advertising on a forum? "First we #$@% all the lawyers" Wm. Shakespeare. "Liberty, Honor, Respect".

[ohhanakai]

Channing,

I know you from the Lexington fire. You and my husband were best friends from Alternative school days and you were up here visiting quite a few years back.
I hope somehow we can connect.

Hope you see this post.

What a mind screw!

I feel strongly that this is another mess of neglect via Cal state.

If only these idiots on this "comment site" knew you, they would know you are innocent.

Jessica is concerned and told me how she googled your name and discovered this catastropic and absurd charge against you.

Peace...

[whassup]

When does Lockheed get charged for recklessly causing the Lockheed fire? Or was it the Sheriff's Department who did it?

Or is it a case of the more money you have, the less likely you are to be prosecuted?

[Santa Cruz Res]

ohhanakai wrote:

Channing,
I know you from the Lexington fire. You and my husband were best friends from Alternative school days and you were up here visiting quite a few years back.
I hope somehow we can connect.
Hope you see this post.
What a mind ****!
I feel strongly that this is another mess of neglect via Cal state.
If only these idiots on this "comment site" knew you, they would know you are innocent.
Jessica is concerned and told me how she googled your name and discovered this catastropic and absurd charge against you.
Peace...

Alternative school? Isn't that a school for people who wash out of a regular high school? He's at fault. He did a burn, did not watch it, it smothered for months and started a horrible wildfire.

[ohhanakai]

To Santa Cruz Res/Quick to judge are we? If anyone would be extremely fire concious, it would be Mr. Verden. Once you have lost everything in a forest fire, You never forget and you become extremely fire safety concious.
Thus, I am certain beyond any measure of doubt that this man is innocent.
Back when he was in alternative school, it was far different than they are now. A. It was in Los Gatos. B. Every student explored what they were passionate about and wanted to learn about. C. They got the opportunity to study fields of authenic personal interests and were individually tutored. This was a very prestigeous school.