Mariposa Arsonist To Serve 37 Years

A confessed arsonist in Mariposa County has been sentenced to nearly 40 years in state prison for arson.

Brian Chambers was arrested in September of last year for setting numerous fires throughout Mariposa County. He was booked into the Mariposa County Jail and soon confessed to investigators from the Mariposa County Sheriff´s department and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for his involvement in starting multiple fires, all the way back to the year 2000.

Chambers will serve 37 years in state prison and was ordered to pay restitution to the people of California for the cost of suppressing the fires he started, which include last year´s Old Highway Fire near the town of Mariposa, which burned nearly 1350 acres. The cost of fighting the Old Highway Fire came out to almost 1.3 million dollars since over 900 firefighters were assigned at the height of the fire to the Mariposa fire.