Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CEDAR CITY (AP) — A Utah man is pleading not guilty to criminal charges in a massive Utah wildfire that destroyed 13 homes and cost some $40 million to fight.
Court records show Robert Ray Lyman entered the plea Tuesday to misdemeanor reckless burning and burning without a permit counts filed in the fire that torched more than 100 square miles this summer.
Authorities say the fire that forced some 1,500 people to evacuate was started by weed burning at a cabin near the southern Utah ski town of Brian Head, a popular getaway for Las Vegas residents.
A lawyer for the 61-year-old Lyman has questioned the evidence for the charges. Attorney Andrew Deiss has said his client is a former high school basketball coach who fully cooperated with the investigation.
(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)