Feb. 15 (UPI) — A judge in Riverside County, Calif., sentenced a man to 12 years in prison Thursday after he pleaded guilty to starting a wildfire in San Bernardino National Forest last year, prosecutors said.
Brandon McGlover, 33, pleaded guilty to two counts of burning a structure or forest land for sparking the Cranston Fire on July 25.
The blaze consumed more than 13,000 acres and multiple structures.
Judge Kelly Hansen handed down a sentence of 12 years and four months in state prison, the maximum allowable sentence for the crimes.
As part of the plea deal, the court dismissed seven other counts, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said.
The Cranston Fire was one of a number of wildfires that blazed across Southern and Northern California last summer — a record-breaking fire season for the state.
During the same month of the Cranston Fire, the Mendocino Complex — made up of the River and Ranch fires — became the largest wildfire in California history, burning through more than 450,000 acres and killing one person.
