A 16-year-old boy has been arrested for setting off fireworks that authorities now believe sparked a 28-acre blaze in Idaho, police said.
The unidentified teen was traveling through Ada County in an SUV with a group of friends on Saturday when he revealed “he had a mortar-style firework that he wanted to light off,” according to a statement released by the Eagle Police Department on Thursday evening.
His friends urged him against it, warning that he “might start a fire in the area,” but to no avail.
“Initial information indicates the boy lit off the firework a brief time later, when the SUV was parked, which did ignite the brush nearby,” police said.
Despite their best efforts, they could not tamp out the flames, which started to spread. The group then drove away, but one boy called 911 to report the incident.
Eagle Police Dept.
A 16-year-old boy was charged with third degree arson after setting of a firework in Idaho, authorities said.
The teen who set off the mortar firework — which is launched through a tube and then sparks in the air — fled from the vehicle, but he was found a short time later. He was charged with third-degree arson and jailed at the Ada County Juvenile Detention Center. His case is being handled at Ada Juvenile Court.
“The Hartley fire consumed about 28 acres before Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Eagle, Middleton/Star, and Meridian fire departments and we were able to suppress the fire,” Eagle police said. “Fire crews were sent to the BLM land north of Hartley Road in Eagle around 9 p.m. Saturday. It took until after midnight for the fire crews to contain the blaze. No structures were lost.”
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
