Feds charge two Utah men over a wildfire near Bountiful

Federal prosecutors have filed misdemeanor charges accusing two Utah men of causing a wildfire that burned 56 acres this summer near a subdivision in the southeastern foothills of Bountiful.

Jayson Ross Orvis, 48, of Bountiful and James Troy Golden, 41, of Salt Lake City are each charged with one count of causing and failing to control a fire that damages a national forest. In this case, the blaze, which allegedly started on property owned by Orvis, spread to land in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.

Orvis is charged with an additional four counts for allegedly putting road and structure improvements — a shooting pavilion, a rail for target-shooting, an event tent and a road — on National Forest Service land without authorization.

The charges, which were filed Jan. 23 in U.S. District Court, are class B misdemeanors that carry a maximum punishment of six months in jail and a $5,000 fine each.

The fire began Aug. 29 in oak brush and grass about 3½ miles south of Bountiful and burned within about a quarter-mile of the 50-home Summerwood development, according to the Forest Service.

Orvis told The Salt Lake Tribune in September that the fire started at a children’s play area on his property, uphill from Summerwood, where a worker was building a coaster track. Sparks from a power grinder ignited the grass, and, though there was an extinguisher on hand, he said, the blaze moved too rapidly to be contained.

On Monday, Joel Kittrell, Orvis’ attorney, said his client was not present at the site of the fire when it started.

He also said there is “clearly a difference” between the Forest Service’s topography maps and the maps that are available to the public, and that Orvis never intended to build anything on federal land.

“Above all else, Jayson wants to be a good neighbor,” Kittrell said.

After the fire, Orvis and his wife, Pamela, said they were working with the South Davis Metro Fire District to improve firefighter access in the area and to help block future fires, whether they are caused by people or lightning.

The Tribune could not reach Golden for comment Monday.