Woman accused of starting fire in Boulder County
A 48-year-old woman is accused of starting a fire near Boulder that caused an estimated $20,000 in damage.
Helena Syrovatkova, who lives in unincorporated Boulder County, was charged with setting the Tally Ho Trail fire on April 19, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
The 10-acre fire damaged yards and fences to eight homes and burned grassland, the Sheriff’s Office said. No one was injured in the fire.
Syrovatkova has cooperated with investigators, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Syrovatkova lit a fire in a fire pit on April 18 and believed she extinguished the flames. The next day, she spread the ashes in a garden bed, believing they would be good fertilizer. The fire ignited a short time later, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
“Investigators, after consulting with the Office of the District Attorney and other agencies, concluded that Ms. Syrovatkova’s decision to spread the ashes was criminally negligent because it amounted to a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would have exercised under similar circumstances,” officials wrote in a new release.
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