A licensed contractor hired to clear brush in the densely wooded Santa Cruz Mountains was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of causing the huge Summit fire, which burned for seven days in May, consuming more than 4,200 acres and 132 buildings, including 35 homes.
Los Gatos contractor Channing Verden, 50, allegedly left smoldering two piles of brush he was hired to burn, according to court documents. A month later, sparks from those piles ignited nearby brush and trees and became the massive fire that consumed 35 homes.
Prosecutors indicate Verden not only failed to get a local permit to burn the brush during one of the driest springs on record, but he also ignored at least one face-to-face warning by fire officials about the negligent way he was preparing to torch oversize piles of debris that ultimately caused the Summit fire. According to court documents filed by Santa Clara County prosecutors, the fire officials visited the site after receiving reports of smoke shortly before Verden began burning brush in earnest.
The six original piles on the Santa Clara County side of Summit Road were more than 10 feet tall, the documents allege, and included about 20 tons of chopped-up pines and overgrowth. Verden apparently did not have a water supply on hand, as required to put out any flare-ups and completely douse the burned material.
The smoldering piles may well have died out without incident but for high winds on May 22 that turned the thick brush into bone-dry kindling and rapidly spread the flames. With 40-mph winds — likened to the notoriously dry Santa Ana winds of Southern California — and a lack of measurable rain in the area since late April, the weather became the fire’s accomplice.
Likely prison term
Shortly after the fire broke out, an arson investigator with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection was able to trace the origin to a clearing at 31000 Summit Road, where Verden had worked, according to the documents. Two of the piles were still smoldering, at temperatures of 921 degrees and 1,022 degrees — indicating there had been no effort to extinguish the piles with water before the crew left the site four weeks earlier.
Verden was booked Tuesday on one felony count of unlawfully causing a fire, plus an enhancement of causing multiple structures to burn. Bail was set at $250,000, said Nick Muyo, a spokesman for the DA’s office.
If Verden is convicted, he faces a maximum of seven years in state prison, Muyo said. Verden could not be reached for comment.
Residents in the mountainous rural area have been waiting nearly a year to find out what touched off the conflagration.
“It’s a great relief to find out what happened,” said Carol Golsch, whose vacation house escaped damage. “I feel terrible that he apparently didn’t take the burn precautions very seriously.”
Others expressed sorrow.
“Oh, God,” said Karen Cisneros, whose home was so badly damaged that her family still cannot occupy it. “To hear the fire was caused by negligence, it’s kind of like salt in a wound. You think, does this person realize how he changed people’s lives, what an incredibly horrendous experience this has been for us?”
The arrest also sparked anger. Mark Hamlin, a flooring contractor who lost a Mercedes and thousands of dollars of exterior plants and a large hedge in the fire, said he had glimpsed the long-smoldering embers the day before the fire broke out and was terribly worried.
“I’ve been waiting to sue whoever was responsible,” Hamlin said.
Crewman saw embers
The DA’s office did not charge property owner Andrew Napell, who hired Verden’s company, Advanced Earth Technologies, for $18,000 in March 2008 to clear five acres of brush on his land in unincorporated Santa Clara County. The fire also spread across Summit Road into Santa Cruz County.
Muyo said Napell wasn’t charged because “he relied on the contractor that he hired to adhere to the applicable regulations and do the burning in a safe manner.” Napell couldn’t be reached for comment. Verden had obtained a burn notice from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, but allegedly failed to get a permit from the local Cal Fire authorities.
Court documents indicate that one of the workers Verden hired on his chain-saw crew saw embers blowing toward Summit Road and the other side of the ridge while working at the site, even before the winds came up a month later.
The Summit fire was one of three major wildfires that broke out in the area during the devastating 2008 fire season. Two other major Santa Cruz County fires over the summer, the 520-acre Martin fire in Bonny Doon and the 630-acre Trabing fire north of Watsonville, were also believed to have been caused by human activity. But it appears unlikely anyone will be held accountable. Fire officials received no solid leads after releasing a sketch of a man wanted for questioning about the June 12 Martin fire.
And while investigators quickly ruled out a host of false rumors to determine the June 20 Trabing fire was lighted in dry grass along Highway 1 by car exhaust, they don’t expect to ever identify the motorist responsible. In the few minutes it would have taken for smoke to appear along the roadside, that car would have been long gone.
Contact Tracey Kaplan at tkaplan@mercurynews.com or 408-278-3482.
Spark to flame
The following chronology comes from court documents released by Santa Clara County prosecutors:
March 24, 2008: Contractor Channing Verden is hired by property owner Andrew Napell to clear brush on about five acres at 31000 Summit Road for about $18,000.
March 25: Chief Rich Sampson and Katherine Price of Cal Fire respond to a report of smoke on Napell”s land. They observe several large debris piles on the property. The vegetation in the piles was not cured and one of the piles is burning. They warn contractor Verden about the extreme weather conditions and fuel moisture levels, which make any burning hazardous. They tell him all piles have to be extinguished by dark and someone must attend the burn piles at all times. Price notes that there is no water supply at the scene; Verden says he was working on getting a water truck to the location.
April 4: Verden stops work.
Sometime in April: Cal Fire Capt. Randy Castro meets with Verden to inspect the debris piles on Napell”s property. Castro tells Verden the piles are too big to burn. Castro tells Verden he must have someone attend the piles at all times and the burning could occur only from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
May 22: 911 report of fire in the area of 31000 Summit Road. Cal Fire determines the origin is a burn pile at 31000 Summit Road. Two of six piles there are still smoking. The temperature in the two piles is high, indicating there was no effort to extinguish the piles with water before crews left the job site more than four weeks earlier.
May 28: Summit fire is contained.
April 21, 2009: Channing Verden is arrested.
