California is demanding the parents of two kids who started a 2020 wildfire pay more than half a million dollars after their actions led to mass evacuations.
In June 2020, the ‘Skyline 3’ fire in Jamul burned more 100 acres and was started by the unidentified children who were on a camping trip with their parents.
The kids, who were unsupervised at the time, started playing with the campfire and the flames quickly spread to surrounding brush and vegetation.
In a lawsuit filed this week by California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s Office, the state is looking for ‘Nathan S.’ and ‘Joy S.’ to pay $675,000 for the damage caused. The last names of the parents were not released.
‘Joy S. and Nathan S. negligently supervised one or more of their minor children transferred the campfire to an adjacent vegetated area,’ the lawsuit states.
California is demanding the parents of two kids who started a 2020 wildfire pay more than half a million dollars after their actions led to mass evacuations
California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta is demanding the parents of two kids who started a 2020 wildfire pay more than half a million dollars after their actions led to mass evacuations
In June 2020, the ‘Skyline 3’ fire in Jamul burned more 100 acres and was started by the unidentified children who were on a camping trip with their parents
The lawsuit comes almost three years after the fire broke out in Jamul – located around 20 minutes east of San Diego – on June 11.
According to officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the blaze started around 1pm on Skyline Truck Trail.
In total, the fire burned for three days and ate up 100 acres in the Lawson Valley.
Throughout the three-day course of the wildfire, fire helicopters repeatedly were forced to grab water from nearby lakes and drop them over the blaze.
The fire came dangerously close to homes at times.
Bonta’s Office’s non-conformed lawsuit seeks $675,000 from the parents for failing to supervise their children – whose ages have not been released – during the trip.
The Attorney General stated the parents then failed to contain the fire.
It then ‘escaped their control and ignited additional vegetation within the vicinity and spread to a neighboring property.’
The lawsuit comes almost three years after the fire broke out in Jamul – located around 20 minutes east of San Diego – on June 11
According to officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the blaze started around 1pm on Skyline Truck Trail
In total, the fire burned for three days and ate up 100 acres in the Lawson Valley
The lawsuit alleged the couple’s children had started a fire at another point during their camping trip, as well.
Bonta’s office contended the two kids had been playing with sticks from the family’s campfire three days before the wildfire broke out.
The State of California argued the parents should have known to properly supervise their kids around the campfire, especially in an area with dense vegetation.
The parents, the state alleged, ‘had the opportunity and ability to control the conduct of their minor children in their custody and control, and should have recognized the necessity to adequately supervise and monitor their minor children to prevent the very same risk of harm that ultimately led to the Skyline 3 Fire.’
‘It was bad, because they shut the four corners off, nobody could go through. It was pretty bad,’ said one man who spoke with CBS 8 about the fire.
‘I actually know people who had their house burned down and lost a lot of property,’ a woman who lives in the area said.
‘They had a farm out there so they lost a lot of revenue with their farm as well,’ the woman continued.
Bonta’s office contended the two kids had been playing with sticks from the family’s campfire three days before the wildfire broke out. Pictured: The Jamul fire in 2020
Firefighters on scene of the Jamul fire in June of 2020
Now, residents say they are glad to see individuals seeing repercussions for their actions, which could have been fatal.
‘I think the parents should be responsible for it. That’s my thought,’ said one of the people who spoke with CBS 8 on Monday.
‘You had your actions and there are consequences for them,’ the woman who spoke with the San Diego TV station said.
‘I think it is good that people are being held accountable for these kinds of things,’ she continued.
DailyMail.com reached out to the California Attorney General’s Office for comment, but they did not respond in time for this report.