What kind of consequences can a convicted arsonist face?

Hundreds of homes across the state have been lost in this busy wildfire season. Now, four people are facing criminal charges for starting the High Chateau Fire and Spring Fire.

In Teller County, David Michael Renfrow, 23; Kegan Patrick Owens, 19, both of Manitou Springs; and a 17-year-old male juvenile from Colorado Springs is charged with first-degree arson.

For the Spring Fire, Jesper Joergensen was arrested without incident on arson charges.

Now many are wondering will these people face consequences and provide some kind of relief for the hundreds of families that have lost their homes.

Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell says, “folks come up here and don’t think about the nature of fires as much as people who live up here do.”

Another element to convicting these accused criminals is proving their intent, something Mike McDivitt, a defense lawyer, says shouldn’t be hard.

“If there’s a fire ban in place and they go out and intentionally set a campfire, but knowing the reason for a ban is because a spark can start a forest fire, or endanger buildings, to me that’s intent,” he says.

For so many homeowners across the state who have lost their homes in wildfires before knowing, it’s left up to them to find closure themselves and move forward.

Colorado law says if anyone intentionally sets a fire and it burns down a building in the process, the person who set the fire could still face first-degree arson charges.