Early Saturday, along a dark stretch of Interstate 70 near the Utah-Colorado border, troopers say a series of grass fires flared up so fast that drivers and firefighters were briefly put in harm’s way. By the time the smoke cleared, crews had knocked down nine separate blazes, no motorists or buildings were hurt, and a 48-year-old man was in custody facing a stack of arson charges.
What Troopers Say Happened
According to KSL, charging documents filed in the 7th District Court say a Utah Highway Patrol trooper first spotted four fires just before 3 a.m. One was burning in the median, and three more were on the eastbound off-ramp at mile marker 221.
As fire crews worked to snuff those out, firefighters discovered two additional fires in the median about a mile away. Dispatchers then relayed a report of a man hiding in the weeds near the 221 overpass. A witness pointed the trooper toward someone running along the shoulder.
Court papers state that when officers contacted the man, identified as Randy Alan Toney, “his pants were actively smoking.”
High Fire Danger Along I-70
Per the Bureau of Land Management, fire-prevention orders and restrictions are in effect across parts of Utah this month, limiting certain open fires and other ignition sources on BLM-managed lands…