A Hiker Started a Wildfire Trying to Signal for Help. Now He Owes the Government $300,000.

I was interested in the judge's comparison of this case with another where a hiker started a signal fire that ran wild. In that other case, the conviction was eventually reversed because, although the hiker did cause the fire, the hiker also did take precautions and fires were not banned at the time by the Forest Service.

Law is interesting. In both cases, someone made a bad mistake. But it made a difference how much they were trying to follow the rules and be careful.