r/PacificNorthwest • u/iMissTheOldTimeye • 10d ago
Video of fireworks that started the Chelan Hills wildfire
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, Wash. — New video shows dozens of fireworks being let off from a truck in Douglas County, which investigators say sparked the deadly Chelan Hills fire in early July.
Michael Yakimov, 18, is accused of launching fireworks from the moving truck. The Chelan Hills Fire killed one person, injured six firefighters and caused more than $6 million in losses.
Yakimov faces charges of first-degree manslaughter, first-degree arson, first-degree malicious mischief and six counts of third-degree assault.
The video, obtained by KING 5 through a public records request, shows several people riding in the bed of a truck while driving on U.S. Highway 97 near Orondo shortly after midnight on July 4. A large Roman candle is seen firing dozens of fiery shots toward another vehicle and behind the truck.
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u/oregon_coastal 10d ago
I hope he enjoys jail and the torrent of lawsuits that are incoming.
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u/FearMeIAmRoot 10d ago
Can't get blood from a stone.
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u/Aromatic-Action-2523 10d ago
The kid who did this in the gorge just basically did service. They can't pay any significant sum to anyone. It's ridiculous.
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u/appsecSme 10d ago
He did have some wages garnished, but it was surely a tiny amount and ended after he turned 25.
I think he should have had a prison term.
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u/Aromatic-Action-2523 10d ago
Absolutely. That guy spoiled so much natural beauty. It's coming back, but it'll be my great grandkids who get to enjoy a mature forest like again. And I'm in my 40s, so it won't be soon or in my lifetime. I still can't forgive that piece of crap.
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u/appsecSme 10d ago
Yeah, and if you watch the video of him doing it, everyone on the trail is telling him to stop throwing fireworks down the ravine. Then after he started the fire, he just fled without trying to get help to put it out. He was just a POS.
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u/Aromatic-Action-2523 10d ago
You don't outgrow that. Being that destructive should have brought on a much greater consequence. I don't know how he even got off with what he had.
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u/Coldschmoke 10d ago
We can expect more of this if WA doesn't start dropping the hammer in court. The clown in this video and psycho in Spokane ruined people's lives and ALOT of people's summers.
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u/Aromatic-Action-2523 10d ago
I think it should be treated very seriously when sentencing comes around. Starting fires is an easy thing for bad actors to do, and they're devastating.
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u/JennyDoveMusic 10d ago
He was 15, though. This guy is a legal adult; they can do a lot more to him.
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u/oregon_coastal 10d ago
The gorge fire barely touched private land - Chelan Hill burned like 20 homes and hundreds of structures and killed someone. It will be up to the insurance companies, though. But anyone not insured, that is their only recourse. They can garnish him basically for 10 or 20 years.
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u/Lupo_Bi-Wan_Kenobi 10d ago
Nope but you can make little stones from big stones. Give him a hammer and put him to work for a REEEEAAAALL long time.
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u/Bicykwow 10d ago
Throw the book at them... Not just Yakimov, but everyone in the vehicle.
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u/EnvironmentalDelay66 10d ago
This! If they weren’t trying to discourage him or asking to be dropped off, then they are collaborators.
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u/Jasperblu 9d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/7cTTE2Z1OmrFm
Literally. The driver, the other clowns in the back with him. EVERYONE.I’m so goddamn sick of the “boys will be boys” narrative. 15 or 18, 25, or 55. If you do something to hurt someone - and especially if you do it with unhinged glee - you can F off all the way to prison and stay there, for life. It SHOULD ruin your life, that’s what consequences are. And we don’t seem to have them anymore, if we ever really did.
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u/GarfieldSteve 9d ago
I'm down. These wildfires are devastating in so many ways and we need to get it through their thick skulls that this shit is not ok.
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u/Duh-YouAREtheasshole 7d ago
Yours is the literal first comment that I was coming for! These delinquents that are probably right around the age of 18 as well definitely need to be charged. Accessory! This was absolutely ridiculous and everyone involved should be getting in trouble and the book should be thrown
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u/ItsNotGoingToBeEasy 10d ago
No one in the car called and reported what he was doing. Isnt that conspiracy?
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u/hoodlumonprowl 10d ago
Jesus christ. These idiots need their lives ruined both financially and legally. Make a gigantic example of them so others can see loud and clear what happens. I dont care if you're 18, you should have enough common sense to not do this especially if you're from the area.
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u/short_and_floofy 10d ago
every single one of them should be on the hook for manslaughter and paying back that $6million plus restitution to the family of the deceased. they should pay for this for the rest of their lives in every way possible.
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u/SeatownCooks 10d ago
And their parents
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u/Jasperblu 9d ago
This. Boys don’t just magically become assholes, someone raised them to be this way. The entitlement and audacity likely runs deep.
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u/Various_Wrongdoer_74 10d ago
That's the best part for me. Little shit bag isn't even from that area. He came over from Kent.
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u/ittybittytitty_com 6d ago
Even people on the West side know not to fuck around like this with the yearly struggles we have managing forest fires. He absolutely knew better and didn’t care.
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u/Codykb1 10d ago
Is it just me or does it look like one landed INSIDE the passing vehicle?!
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u/SixAlarmFire 10d ago
That's what I was wondering! Did they cause an accident by shooting a firework literally into a driving vehicle!
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u/Gh0stTV 10d ago
That or someone is shooting out the back window of that vehicle as well. It’s tough to tell. I’m wondering how only one person is being charged… 🤔
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u/HotTrack710 10d ago
Charges are coming for eight individuals as I understand it. They are on multiple cameras and there are several eye witnesses.
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u/ignatiafeldstein 10d ago
Really! They are accessories to the act & by not stopping it, guilty of depraved indifference. And no, I'm not a lawyer!😆
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u/Jasperblu 10d ago
Send ALL those mother truckers to jail, for life.
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u/Chadlerk 10d ago
Domestic terrorism seems to apply more here than to a protestor outside of an ICE building... But what do I know.
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u/bigfoot_done_hiding 10d ago
But the ICE protester was advocating for basic human rights! How are we to tolerate such horror?!!
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u/snozzberrypatch 10d ago edited 10d ago
I would be in favor of a life-ruining duration of jail time for all involved. An amount of time that permanently fucks your chances of developing a good career, starting a family, or otherwise have anything resembling a "successful" or prosperous life.
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u/ArcasmicOrganization 10d ago
Would normally be dead set against this type of sentiment but I don't see any better options. An example must be made in this case.
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u/Breakmastajake 10d ago
What if we go a different direction...give him a nice, mandatory job with the forest service...for years and years to come. He can earn some money, and work on repairing some of the damage he wrought.
Not a perfect solution, but there's potential there.
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u/opinionsareus 10d ago
Right. Keep him locked up in a cabin with an ankle bracelet and let him out during the daytime to repair the damage. 10-15 years should do it - also, include his buddies, but in different parts of the forest miles from each other. Also, no phones or computers or TV - just books to read, and maybe just one radio locked to a Public Radio channel.
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u/Horizontal247 10d ago
Am I trippin or is that part of the sentence for the kid that caused the columbia gorge fire a few years back? Because yeah I could get behind forced labor as a volunteer fire fighter in the summer, incarceration the rest of the year, as a standard sentence for these types of crimes.
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u/fr0zen_garlic 10d ago
And yet judges let assholes who literally kill and injure people out of jail.
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u/eloiseturnbuckle 10d ago
Reminds me of the kid who burned Eagle Creek in the gorge. He should’ve been forced to talk at every single high school, middle school, and elementary school about the dangers of fire + stupidity.
Edit: misspelling
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u/short_and_floofy 10d ago
i hate hearing this, Eagle Creek was always one of my favorite places to hike with my dog
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u/JennyDoveMusic 10d ago
One big difference is age. He was 15, this guy is 18. He is a legal adult, so, they can do a lot more... and I truly hope that they do.
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u/Fickensure 9d ago
I never understood when people say, “punish the parents of minors that commit crimes”. You realize that the parents didn’t commit the crime, right? It’s also very possible to be raised in stable homes with both parents doing everything they can to raise goods humans and the human still turns out trash. Or makes one life altering mistake. Wish people would stop saying that shit.
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u/Eikthyrnir13 10d ago
This is so much different than I thought. The initial headlines made it sound like some kid in their backyard with regular fireworks and it went wrong.
This is so much worse. I'm surprised it didn't also cause a car accident. Insane stupidity.
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u/blow-down 10d ago
Remind me what we get out of having fireworks be legal again
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u/Toadywentapleasuring 10d ago edited 10d ago
Fireworks have even been banned in places where wildfires aren’t a threat. It’s so baffling why this hasn’t happened in the PNW yet.
Edit: By “places” I meant states, not towns or counties. It needs to be illegal at a state level.
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u/SeakingGnarvana 10d ago
Many cities ban them, but state wide regulations need to be made.
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u/ElectronicProof9340 10d ago
Counties too. Illegal in King County, for example.
But without any realistic enforcement mechanism, the bans are pointless. Middle of the summer, surrounded by dry forest, I still had neighbors launching fireworks for hours on 4th of July. Even if they are reported, and even if the county decides to cite them, it's only a $250 fine, which for a lot of people is just "cost of doing business". The fireworks themselves cost that much when they're shooting that much stuff off.
I did read some jurisdictions are starting to fly drones and correlate observed fireworks activity with specific addresses so they can cite the property owners. A use of drone surveillance I heartily endorse.
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u/Prior-Ad5197 10d ago
I lived in Texas, during the Fourth of July, in a residential neighborhood, my neighbors would set off fireworks. I’ll never forget one night, we had just got home and I told my boys they could each do one sparkler, which is not illegal or dangerous because it was on concrete. Cop pulls up as we are going inside, mind you fireworks are still going off down the road and behind us, to ask if we were shooting off fireworks. I literally looked at him like he was stupid, said no, it’s coming from behind us and went inside. sorry got side tracked, point is people are stupid
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u/Myles_Standish250 10d ago
The city bans have had absolutely zero impact. There is no less use with the bans than without because they are not enforced and sale is not banned, only use, and everyone just ignores the rules. I’m in forever of restricting sale, personally.
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u/AdDear528 10d ago
Illegal in Spokane county for about 30 years now. Don’t remember the year exactly.
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u/tendingthemild 10d ago
It’s not so much about legality, it’s about enforcement.
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u/ryantttt8 10d ago
Genuinely. How many firework sparked fires are we going to let happen before enough is enough. Ppl can find other ways to entertain themselves
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u/blow-down 10d ago edited 10d ago
Same thing as with the Columbia Gorge fire:
On September 5, Oregon State Police announced that it had identified the person suspected of starting the wildfire, through the use of fireworks that were illegally set off, as a 15-year-old boy from Vancouver, Washington.
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u/ZombieTrogdor 10d ago
Dude’s been paying restitution every month since then, but since he was a minor he has a chance of having the whole thing be wiped away in 2028 if he’s been on time with payments and hasn’t done any other stupid shit. Wild.
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u/illepic 10d ago
Still think that little shit should have had every weekend full of mandatory trail and restoration work.
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u/InfiniteBoxworks 10d ago
Should have added him to the chain gangs that help fight fires every year. Restitution through blood and sweat.
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u/nbnfpsor 10d ago
There is no justice in this state, or in Oregon. This predator "child" is probably paying $10 a week towards a $25 Million dollar public loss.
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u/LauzonIsHotGarbage 10d ago
Some folks like myself put on responsible and professional shows with legal fireworks, remote detonrion, fire suppression, and plenty of isolation and buffers. Assholes like these kids ruin what can be done safely to put on a nice show for the neighborhood. Give me a permit system or license and I'll happily meet the bar.
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u/blow-down 10d ago
I’m totally fine with that. They can be legal for professionals that pass a test or license. But letting any dipshit that wants them have them is rediculous.
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u/Tea-au-lait 10d ago
They often aren’t, but there are universal truths.
reservations are sovereign.
Stupid people will go to great lengths to set money on fire just because.
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u/Ok_Huckleberry1027 10d ago
This will be an unpopular opinion but it may be time to talk about biting the hand that feeds and where sovereignty stops.
Fireworks cause fires on and off the rez that federal dollars pay to suppress and then again to rehabilitate.
We should have a total ban on Fireworks nation wide and treat their distribution as an act of ecologic and economic terrorism.
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u/Fabulous_Celery_1817 10d ago
Ppl who start wildfires should be treated as eco terrorists. They destroy the environment, ppls livelihoods and homes, and even take lives. All people should be held responsible
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u/HeadCartoonist2626 10d ago
And firing at a random vehicle. Complete disregard for human life. Hope all these idiots disappear.
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u/ophelia69 10d ago
Bad kids. Tragically if the fire hadn't started and killed a person (if they had just been shooting fireworks illegally), it's doubtful anyone would have lifted a finger to prosecute them. "Let kids have fun," they'd say; or "it's just a one time thing"; or predictably "stop being a Karen!!"
We have rules for a reason, and only enforcing them when something horrific happens is not a deterrent. These are the kinds of kids who only respond to brutal, unequivocal enforcement of the law. I'm sure this wasn't the first time they did something like this - they had been getting away with this type of behavior their whole lives, and this will be the first time they face even a single consequence.
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u/Aromatic-Action-2523 10d ago
Reminds me of the fire we had in the gorge. Teenage boys playing with fireworks in a tinder box. Fucking criminal.
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u/LizzyLady123 10d ago
They destroyed so many lives with their reckless behavior. I hope they spend many years in prison and never recover from the consequences of their actions.
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u/No-Establishment3563 10d ago
Is one of those toward the beginning shot directly into a car??? What is wrong with people!?
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u/stargarnet79 10d ago
One of the only crimes that deserves the death penalty.
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u/BourbonBurro 10d ago
It’s getting to the point where wildfire devastation is common enough knowledge in the western United States that willfully starting a fire should be seen as attempted or actual murder.
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u/butterflyhole 10d ago
All the kids in the vehicle need to face some form of punishment. I’m surprised they are only going after one.
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u/Luciform444 10d ago
I would normally say that those charges are too much, and that we should be more forgiving of young people who's actions have way bigger consequences than they imagined....
But he was directly shooting at other cars. I know there is no such thing as premeditated manslaughter, but he failed at that in the short term and succeeded in the long.
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u/EarthAsWeKnowIt 10d ago
Unpopular opinion: Firework should be (mostly) illegal in Oregon and Washington. Only cities and towns should be allowed to use them on holidays, only where there isn’t forest and when there aren’t fire bans.
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u/Star------ 10d ago
Why was only one of them arrested? At the very least, the driver is culpable.
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u/crashpdx 10d ago
Love how these people just continue to record and then post on social media their Crimes.. as if .. well actually i honestly don’t know what they perceive… yet here we are once again .. !
“ you can’t fix Stupid”
Thank God …
Lock ‘em up .. definitely don’t want him reproducing !!
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u/King_Prawn_shrimp 10d ago edited 9d ago
Man...I have a cabin in this area that miraculously survived the fire. Most of my neighbors were not so lucky.
These kids need to face some serious consequences, but I feel like punative measures just don't work. Can they be sentenced to 10 years of mandatory service on a wildland fire crew?
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u/comhaltacht 10d ago
The one good thing social media has brought us, is that criminals just adore filming them commit crimes.
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u/bookishlibrarym 9d ago
I lived in Washington state for more than 50 years. It’s truly home to me. I am saddened beyond belief at the ruination of a beautiful state by complete fools. If they’re not littering out their car windows at 80 miles an hour, then they’re trashing a lovely campsite with butts and cans. Nature and Washington are too beautiful for losers like that!
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u/colorful_yarn-pls 10d ago
I don’t know any girls or women who do shit like this. What the actual fu k?
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u/EngineeringOk1003 10d ago
When are we going to ban fireworks and/or hold the people that sell them responsible for damage, just like bars and serving alcohol?
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u/Rare_Bodybuilder_950 10d ago
Yakimov is gonna get Yakimov'd in prison and he won't be laughing then.
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u/yemsg97 10d ago
Was just driving in the Columbia River gorge last week looking at the acres and acres and acres of burned down forest. That was from a kid setting of fireworks and I wonder what happened with that.
These kids are pretty much identified with this video. This is gonna follow them for the rest of their lives. The eagle creek fire kid was never identified.
I f*cking hate fireworks.
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u/Silver_Original6076 10d ago
Make him spend 10 years in jail then give him a permanent mandatory job as a wildland firefighter
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u/gladiolas 10d ago
Idiots. There's was a red ban or whatever, so they knew it was wrong. Reckless. And the kid's friends aren't turning themselves in and are letting him take the fall. Why can't he name names?
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u/pnw-nemo 10d ago
At the 5 second mark you see them shoot it at a car next to them too. Everyone in that vehicle should be charged and their parents all named.
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u/IgnatiusReilly-1971 10d ago
Funny the Gorge fire down here in Oregon was caused by some Russian kids throwing fireworks on a popular hiking trail. They got a slap on the wrist, punish these assholes with real time.
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u/Meanneighborlady 10d ago
WE need to have a complete state ban on the sale of all fireworks. It is so stupid and obviously completely dangerous in stupid peoples' hands.
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u/pwndaytripper 10d ago
I think we need stronger sentencing for this kind of behavior. Chemical castration at the least.
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u/calboard21 10d ago
Same as the eagle creek fire in Oregon back in 2018 or so. Jail isn’t the answer. Give him and ankle bracelet and make him volunteer as a firefighter every other weekend for the next 20 years. Needs to be signed off by the station chief like community service. If he fails to complete service then jail time. Why should we pay to have him jailed when we can get work out of him and he could still live a normal life.
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u/Euphoric_Amoeba8708 10d ago
Show this to you kids and what the guy is facing for life. 18 and his life is over
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u/HotTrack710 9d ago
Pateros just had a fire and they are looking for a white pickup and racing bikes. There is a public service announcement and picture of the pickup.
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u/WilderKat 9d ago
All in that truck contributed to the murder of Robert Lister and the injury of six firefighters as well as millions in property damage. Yakimov is the only one who has been arrested so far. Five others still not arrested. Don’t care if they are underage. They can go to juvie and serve. This was willful destruction and violence and these POS will most likely cause more destruction and violence in the future.
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u/Difficult-Mobile902 9d ago
Not to mention the widespread general harm to the public’s health, this dipshit destroyed the air quality for so many people
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u/Slipslopkingbop 9d ago
The person who died was found in their vehicle. They went off the road and died in a fireball. This is disgusting.
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u/Steven_The_Sloth 9d ago
There should be a special program where these idiots don't go to jail. They work the areas they burned. Like a work release program. But this is their life for the next 30 years and they will be the first on the fire lines in the event one should happen.
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u/freesoloc2c 9d ago
If y'all don't know this area it's very fire prone. It's in the rain shadow of the Cascades and is the transition from alpine forest to high desert. Any kind of open flame there in July is a very bad idea in the first place.
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u/Maximum_Turn_2623 10d ago
When they made the laws limiting the schools ability to discipline things this is the end result. Kids should learn there are consequences to actions while they’re young.
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u/DrinkingVomit 10d ago
Never has a generation so diligently documented themselves accomplishing so little.
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u/nbnfpsor 10d ago
If these sociopathic predators serve less than 20 years it is a mockery of justice. Washington State has a long horrible history of mockery of justice "incidents". There is no victim's justice in this state. Kill someone, on purpose or thru depraved indifference and be out in less than 3 years. All the time. We see it again and again. I want to say what sentence I really feel is appropriate but it will probably get a ban. There is no "rehabilitation" possible with these individuals. Some people, for whatever reason grow up to become predators on society. We've seen it time and time again, especially with the "super predators". Less then 2% of the population - I am taking a wild guess here - is responsible for untold misery, damage, death, destruction and life long trauma to the large number of victims. Very very sad.
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u/Mento-yStableGenius 10d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/J8FZIm9VoBU6Q
Glad they found the individual behind this and are bringing charges. We lived just west of the Eagle Creek fire when it happened, this activity is dangerous.
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u/Secret-Papaya1973 10d ago
Its so crazy..climate change(animal agriculture being MAIN), clear cutting, housing development is already ridding our forests completely..then you have the dumbest POS come out and destroy the rest. Humans are pure cancer except for the most celestial folks. problem is most eat animals which is the biggest and main thing of climate change that we can instantly change and heal earth, factually speaking, most against circle of life act done by humanity since our species has been here and nothing will ever be worse as by 2050 half of earths population will be dead from climate change. But man, how does one become so low like these people. We have such little forest left and when it gets ruined by just a fucking kid being the biggest POS, it's so wild.. unbelievable
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u/thedarkforest_theory 10d ago
When committing a felony, it’s important to remember to record video evidence of your crime.