Surprisingly short jail sentences or three defendants in High Chateau Fire in Teller County
Two men from Manitou Springs were sentenced to short jail terms and 10 years of probation for their roles in starting the High Chateau Fire last summer in Teller County.
Kegan Patrick Owens, 19, and David Michael Renfrow, 24, were camping in Teller County, on land owned by Owens’ family, during a burn ban last June. After pleading guilty last year, Owens was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail and Renfrow was sentenced to 70 days in jail.
Presiding Judge Scott Sells said Renfrow received more jail time because he was the only adult present when the group started a campfire, and should have set an example.
“It was criminal stupidity,” Sells said.
According to court documents, the defendants poured water and dirt on the campfire and left at night after being spooked by a bear, and they believed the campfire was extinguished.
Owens’ father, Sean Owens, spoke with his son that night to remind him of the burn ban.
“He may not have known that it also applied to private land,” Sean Owens said. “They were all supposed to go to New Mexico but changed their minds at the last minute.”
The High Chateau Fire went on to burn over 1,400 acres and destroy nine homes.
Investigators said they found the campfire ring with a temperature between 279 and 837 degrees.
Sean Owens said their “family’s hearts go out to all who were affected.”
“The fire started on my land. My son’s character is that he was the first one to contact the sheriff’s office,” Owens said.
Owens also said the family will Kegan Owens help pay restitution to the victims.
The 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office had said when Owens pled guilty in November that the defendants would spend at least a year and a half in prison, with the maximum sentence being 12 years in prison under a felony charge of firing woods and prairie.
“That charge is normally a misdemeanor but having the fire during a burn ban bumped it up to a felony,” said Anne Francis, a deputy district attorney.
In a surprising development, however, Sells handed down lenient sentences at the request of several victims.
“They don’t think it serves any purpose for them to sit in jail or prison because they know the fire wasn’t intentional,” Francis said. “They’d rather have the defendants working to pay restitution or do public service.”
To that end, Sells also sentenced Owens and Renfrow to 100 hours of public service.
During the hearing, both defendants apologized for their roles in the fire.
Late Monday afternoon, Sells sentenced the third defendant — a 17-year-old boy — to two years of probation and 24 hours of community service but said the boy would serve no jail time. 
Sells also ordered the boy to undergo family therapy, substance abuse therapy and learn to make better choices.
“Get your G.E.D (high school equivalency diploma) and get a job,” Sells said.
The amount of restitution to the fire victims has yet to be determined.
“The fire was a hardship for us,” said Cmdr. Greg Couch of the Teller County Sheriff’s Office. “We had to evacuate more than 100 people in 8 subdivisions. We had to work a lot of hours.”
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Teller County authorities charged three people with arson Monday in relation to the High Chateau Fire.
Detectives with the Sheriff’s Office determined the wildfire was caused by an illegal campfire that was left unattended the night before the fire started.
David Michael Renfrow, 23; Kegan Patrick Owens, 19, both of Manitou Springs; and a 17-year-old male juvenile from Colorado Springs are charged with first-degree arson, punishable by up to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000.
According to arrest documents obtained by KRDO NewsChannel 13, the suspects had permission to camp on private property and arrived at approximately 6 p.m. on the night before the fire.
The documents indicate that all three suspects gathered firewood for the campfire, but that Renfrow actually lighted it — even though the county was currently in a Stage II fire ban that prohibited open burning, and Owens’ father had called his son to remind him of that fact.
The suspects had planned to spend the night camping, the documents reveal, but changed their mind after seeing a bear that evening.
According to the documents, the suspects poured water and dirt on the campfire and left at approximately 10 p.m., believing the campfire to be extinguished.
The High Chateau Fire went on to burn over 1,400 acres and destroy nine homes.
Authorities said they determined where the fire started two days later and learned who had been camping in the area after talking with the property owner.
Investigators said they found the campfire ring with a temperature between 279 and 837 degrees.
On Monday at the county courthouse in Cripple Creek, Judge Theresa Kilgore advised Renfrow and Owens of the charges against them, set bond for each at $10,000 and scheduled them to return to court July 23.
Kilgore also issued a mandatory protection order for the suspects, prohibiting them from having any contact with fire victims and evacuees.
Authorities said the juvenile is in custody at the Spring Creek Youth Detention Center in Colorado Springs.
Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said the case is an example of campers being unfamiliar with high fire danger and the consequences of being careless.
“This fire cost the taxpayers of Colorado around $2.5 million,” he said. “That was one expensive campfire.”
Teller County is still under a Stage III fire ban due to dry and windy conditions. No open fires of any type are allowed in unincorporated areas of Teller County.
