On Friday, three Western Washington teenagers are facing a judge in Douglas County. They are accused of intentionally setting the Chelan Hills Fire on July 4th.
The fire caused more than $6 million in damages, burned more than 10,000 acres, hurt several firefighters, and killed a man who was trying to evacuate.
Douglas County Sheriff Tyler Caille said a group of six teenagers was shooting illegal fireworks at passing cars and into the dry grass along Highway 97 just past midnight.
The area caught fire and rapidly burned up the hill and through the land across the river from Chelan.
On Thursday, three of the teenage suspects were arrested by U.S. Marshals at their homes in Tacoma, Pacific, and University Place yesterday afternoon.
Two of the suspects are 19 years old, and one is 18.
Today they will face a judge for the first time.
Caille says the prosecutor will be seeking charges of manslaughter with a deadly weapon, arson, malicious mischief, and six counts of assault for the six firefighters who were hurt fighting the fire.
She will also be asking for each of the suspects to be assigned a $1 million bail.
There were several Snapchat videos prosecutors obtained showing what happened that night, one of which was shared with KIRO 7.
“They’re all complicit, whether they held the firework in their hand, whether they were driving the truck going down the road, or whether they were just in the back of the truck filming the events. They all knew what happened, and none of them stepped forward,” Caille said.
18-year-old Michael Yakimov was also arrested in early September on the same charges.
He pleaded not guilty and is being held on a $1 million bail.
Caille said these arrests are the start of bringing closure to the devastated community.
“It will never bring back the memories lost, the houses burned; we can’t bring any of that back. All I can do is ensure that we bring those responsible to justice,” Caille said.
He tells us two more teens will also be arrested once the warrants are completed.