Yellowstone Employee Sentenced for Starting Wildfire

Wikimedia Commons Photo.

A seasonal worker for a Yellowstone concessionaire has just been sentenced to three months in jail for starting a wildfire that burned four acres of grass and sage before it was contained.

RELATED: BLM Plan Attempts to Solidify Damage to Bears Ears

According to park officials, the worker in question dropped a lighted cigarette near the north entrance of the national park while sitting at a picnic table on July 26. The worker was also sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation, was prohibited from entering Yellowstone National Park for two years, and was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution.

As Smokey the Bear says, “only YOU can prevent forest fires.”