• July 01, 2002
• Vol. 58
• No. 1

Wild Fire

A Careless Forest Worker Confesses to Igniting Colorado's Worst Woodland Blaze

As a U.S. Forest Service technician, Terry Lynn Barton's job was to watch for wildfires—and on June 8 that's exactly what she did. She reported an "illegal camp-fire out of control" near 1 Lake George, Colo., about 100 miles south-west of Denver. For days Barton, 38, put in over-time to help fight the blaze, which quickly flared into the worst in Colorado's history. But on June 16, after investigators concluded that elements of her story did not make sense, the 18-year Forest Service veteran was arrested for starting the fire herself.

Barton claimed she had burned a disturbing letter from her estranged husband, John, 43, a construction worker from her hometown of Dunlap, Calif., inside a stone campfire ring. (There is a temporary ban on campfires because of the dangerously dry conditions.) So far the fire has consumed more than 110,000 acres and destroyed 25 homes. Officials estimate it may be months before it is fully contained.

Friends describe Barton, who lives near Lake George with daughters Tasha, 17, and Brandy, 14, as a bubbly woman who sold cosmetics on the side to make ends meet. "She loved this job and she worked hard at it," says a close relative. "It is all so tragic and unbelievable because she's so conscientious." Now she faces up to 20 years in a federal prison. To locals, that seems only fair. "I feel sorry for her, but she knew how to put out fires," says Joyce Herrscher, a real estate agent. "Why would she think about striking a match in the forest? There's a lot of loss here, and a lot of people without a place to live."