Fury as woman who started wildfire escapes charges

The woman who got lost in the wilderness and set a signal fire that exploded into a devastating wildfire will not face charges, Arizona’s federal prosecutor has said.

Residents attending a news conference at Heber-Overgaard booed as US Attorney Paul Charlton made the announcement regarding Valinda Elliott. One man threw a charred log on to the floor and was taken away by police.

Charlton said there was insufficient evidence of criminal intent on Elliott’s part. He said the facts would have supported a defence that she acted out of necessity.

‘‘A reasonable person could have expected this fire to remain contained,’’ Charlton said.

Elliott, 31, said she had been lost for two nights on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation when she used a lighter to set fire to a bush on June 20 and get the attention of a news helicopter, which rescued her.

The fire she started eventually merged with another to form the biggest wildfire in Arizona history. The combined inferno destroyed at least 467 homes, scorched nearly 469,000 acres and forced about 30,000 people to flee their homes before it was contained earlier this month.

‘‘If there was some other way I could have gotten that helicopter’s attention, I would have used it,’’ Elliott said previously.

One of her lawyers, Craig Simon, said prosecuting her would have been a waste of government resources.

‘‘She had been stranded for several days in the wilderness,’’ Simon said. ‘‘She did what any reasonable person would do.’’