B.C. man gets jail time for setting fires during wildfire season

Nelson, B.C., is seen in this undated image. (Shutterstock)

A B.C. man will spend 593 days in jail after pleading guilty to a series of arsons in the city of Nelson during a hot and dry wildfire season, which the judge described as “extremely dangerous.”

Judge Craig Sicotte opened his Oct. 20 provincial court sentencing decision, which was published online last week, by describing how in the summer of 2024 residents of the West Kootenays region were on edge, with a number of large wildfires burning and the valleys full of smoke.

The nearby community of Silverton was evacuated on July 24, as was the entire town of Jasper, Alberta.

It was that day David Lloyd Travis lit three fires in the city, the court heard. The first arson was around 6:30 p.m. at Gyro Park, where there were many families present. That fire grew to about 20 metres by 50 metres in size before firefighters extinguished it, according to the decision.

While firefighters were battling that blaze, Travis broke into a locked basement, piled cardboard and a propane canister onto a desk and lit it on fire, the court heard. He then brought three garbage bags outside and set them ablaze in the yard. Bystanders nearby extinguished those fires before they could cause damage.

Meanwhile, Travis crossed the highway into an industrial area, where he was seen lighting another fire in a bush, police were called and he was arrested.

The court heard that at the time of the arsons, Travis was homeless, not taking mental health medication, and consuming alcohol and crystal methamphetamine “to excess.” At the time of the sentencing, he was living at a treatment centre and had stopped using substances, though he was removed from the facility for drinking alcohol in March, which was a breach of court-ordered conditions.

The judge noted that Travis has five prior criminal convictions including one for impaired driving and two for breaching bail conditions. He was on probation at the time of the fires.

“He provided a limited explanation for why he lit the fires in Nelson. He said that he believed human trafficking was going on in the city. Presumably he was going to punish or cleanse the city by burning it down,” Sicotte wrote.

The Crown argued for a three-year federal sentence for Travis, while defence counsel sought a conditional sentence of two years less one day.

Sicotte considered mitigating factors including Travis’ guilty plea, his expressed remorse, and the fact that he had been on strict bail terms for a long time before the sentencing, for which the judge decided to grant him some credit.

“Though perhaps imperfectly, he has taken serious steps to address his substance abuse issues, spending a lengthy period of time in treatment and complying with his medication regime to address his mental health issues. His steps towards rehabilitation are significant,” the decision reads.

Sicotte ultimately ruled that a conditional sentence was not appropriate in the circumstances, saying he was “left concerned about the safety of the community” were Travis be allowed to stay out of jail given his prior inability to get his substance use under control. He also ruled the sentencing objective to protect society by denouncing and deterring such behaviour made time in custody necessary.

“While no formal victim impact statements have been filed, I have no doubt that the residents of Nelson would have been frightened and possibly even traumatized by someone deliberately lighting fires in the middle of their town at such a time,” the judge said.

“The conduct of Mr. Travis in intentionally lighting multiple fires in the locations that he did during hazardous fire conditions was so extremely dangerous that it created enormous risk of massive property destruction and loss of life. It was only due to the fortuitous actions of others that this was prevented.”

Travis was sentenced to three months in custody for the bush fire behind Walmart, 16 months for lighting fires in the basement and the yard and two years less a day for the arson in Gyro Park, to be served concurrently. With credit for time served in custody in the case, he had 593 days remaining, or just over a year and a half.

Travis was given three years of probation following the sentence, which came with several conditions including a ban on being within a 10-kilometre radius of Nelson.