A former Utah Highway Patrol officer and fire chief has been charged with starting the Maeser Highway Fire, which in June burned about 900 acres and forced evacuations in eastern Utah.
Rex Richard Olsen, 37, was charged with arson, a second-degree felony, and with a violation of wildland fire prevention, a class B misdemeanor, the Utah Attorney General’s Office announced Tuesday afternoon.
The charges come after an investigation by the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands.
In court records, an investigator states the fire was started using a cigarette and a match — a “delayed ignition device” where the cigarette acts as a “timed fuse.