Utah man agrees to pay nearly $400K for 2017 wildfire

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah man has agreed to pay nearly $400,000 for a wildfire that spread to national forest land north of Salt Lake City.

The U.S. attorney’s office says Jayson Ross Orvis of Bountiful agreed to the settlement for the August 2017 fire that burned about 75 acres (30 hectares).

Orvis had hired a man to work on his property. Sparks from a power grinder the man was using ignited the blaze that spread to the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.

The settlement amount includes a $14,123 payment for environmental remediation costs.

U.S. Attorney John W. Huber says in a statement the agreement “fully compensates the public for the expense of fighting the fire and restoring these public lands.”

Criminal charges against the men have been dismissed.