Lost hiker starts a wildfire while trying to signal for help. Now he’ll pay $300,000
A man who officials said set a series of small fires to signal for help after he got lost hiking in Arizona’s rugged terrain in 2018 now owes the government $300,000 for the misdemeanor, news outlets reported.
A judge found the hiker, Philip Powers III, “was reckless and negligent in his preparation for a hike of this magnitude from the outset,” and his negligence is what put his life in jeopardy and made the fires necessary in the first place, Backpacker magazine reported.
Powers set out on what he thought would be an easier day-hike May 27, 2018, the magazine reported. He carried about a gallon of water, some snacks and a battery-powered cell phone charger, but he had no map, compass or GPS device, the outlet reported.
But it turns out he was on a longer, much more rugged trail. He hiked to an old sheep rancher’s shack along the trail in the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness and attempted to hike back, but he lost the trail and backtracked to the cabin, where he spent the night, the outlet reported.
By this time, he was running low on food and water, according to a probable cause affidavit. At the cabin, “he lit the first fire (the Taylor Fire) with a lighter hoping to attract help,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
He set out the next morning and hiked for a little more than a mile, but he started getting cramps and quickly realized he wouldn’t be able to hike 8 miles back to his car, the affidavit says.
That’s when he lit the second fire, which turned into the Sycamore Fire, the affidavit says.
He started hiking again until he noticed an airplane and a helicopter circling the area, the affidavit said. He lit a third fire and waved an orange cloth to attract firefighters, and it worked.
Firefighters plucked Powers from the area and flew him to the Sedona Airport, the affidavit says.
He told officials he thought he was done for and confessed he started the fires while he was on the way to Northern Arizona Healthcare in Sedona, where health care workers determined he was suffering from heat exhaustion, acute renal failure and dehydration, The Washington Post reported.
While he was rescued and treated at the hospital, the Sycamore Fire spread to more than 230 acres of the forest, the outlet reported.
This story was originally published February 24, 2023 at 11:36 AM with the headline "Lost hiker starts a wildfire while trying to signal for help. Now he’ll pay $300,000."
