Logan/Phillips fire investigation complete; Svoboda charged

Wednesday, April 19, the Logan County Sheriff’s Office obtained a warrant for the arrest of Patrick Svoboda (date of birth Aug. 20, 1977) for charges of fourth-degree arson, a class 4 felony, and reckless endangerment, a class 3 misdemeanor. These charges cover all the victims in Logan, Phillips and Sedgwick counties in regard to the 32,000-acre fire that began March 6.
    Svoboda was booked into the Logan County Jail without incident.
    Numerous local fire departments, law enforcement personnel and first responders responded to a large grass fire that, due to very high winds, quickly spread over 32,000 acres. The head of the fire was contained on the first night, March 6, but it took approximately two days to fully extinguish the fire.
    This grass fire burned numerous homes, outbuildings, vehicles and farm equipment in both Logan and Phillips counties. Although residents are very thankful that no human life was lost in this fire, hundreds of cattle along with other livestock and wildlife died or had to be put down as a result of this fire.
    Logan County Sheriff’s Office Investigators began investigating the fire immediately. LCSO Investigators Lt. Shane Schliesser and Investigator Alex Eckhardt, assisted by Colorado Bureau of Investigation Fire Investigator Jerry Means, spent numerous hours gathering evidence to develop the origin and cause of the fire and later presented it to outside fire investigators to confirm their conclusions.
    All of the evidence pointed to this fire being the result of reckless human action — specifically, an individual who was welding on a metal feed trough in a dry cornfield on an extremely windy day during a Red Flag Warning, which had indicated there was a high fire danger.
    Once the investigation was completed, it was turned over to the District Attorney of the 13th Judicial District for a filing decision.