After almost two weeks of testimony in Palmer the state finished presenting evidence Wednesday alleging that Amy DeWitt, 43, and Greg Imig, 61, started the June 2015 blaze that burned over 7,000 acres and destroyed 55 homes.
DeWitt and Imig are each charged with a dozen counts related to starting the blaze, including second-degree negligent burning and three counts of reckless endangerment.
The reckless endangerment counts reflect the "substantial risk of serious physical injury" to Willow and Houston residents, fire and emergency personnel and residents whose homes were destroyed or damaged, according to charging documents in the case.
Victims of the fire have been testifying throughout the trial, with most taking the stand Tuesday and Wednesday.
Bob Chlupach was inside on the afternoon of June 14 when he got a call that a fire was spotted north of his home, he testified Tuesday.
He decided to drive out and see how the fire was growing. As he made his way back home, he stopped at a hill overlooking Little Willow Creek to get a better vantage point.
There he watched smoke billowing up on both sides of the road. The fire had jumped the highway.
He called his wife, musher Jan Steves, to tell her what was happening. Steves was out of state at the time, dealing with the sudden death of her son just days earlier.
Chlupach said when he told Steves the fire was approaching their home she started screaming.
"She literally had a meltdown, an absolute meltdown," he told the jury. "She was screaming enough that the neighbors adjacent to her son's apartment, they heard her."
Chlupach was able to get all of their 46 dogs out of the fire. He said one died in the dog truck as a result of heatstroke on the 80-degree day.
Marguerite Goodman had been working in her yard the day the fire started when she smelled smoke. She looked up and saw a giant black cloud overhead.
Read the full article here: http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/We-have-to-live-with-it-Victims-testify-to-the-devastation-of-Sockeye-fire.html
