Prosecutors yesterday said that they had indicted five hikers, including a former National Communications Commission (NCC) official, for allegedly starting an 80 hectare fire in Yushan National Park in May that caused more than NT$200 million (US$7.16 million) of damage.
The hikers, who included former NCC senior specialist Joseph Chiao (喬建中), allegedly sparked the 12-day blaze by lighting an illegal campfire on May 15 and attempted to mislead investigators, the Nantou District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement.
The group lit a campfire to cook dinner at the Dujuan Campground on the Batongguan Traversing Trail, despite notices on their park entry permits and within the campground warning that open fires are prohibited, the office said.
Chiao woke up at about midnight and discovered that embers had caused a small fire, which he tried to douse before moving his tent away from the area and going back to sleep, prosecutors said.
At about 4am, Chiao awakened to find that the fire had grown out of control, at which point he woke up his companions and reported the blaze to the Nantou County Fire Department, the statement said.
Prosecutors specifically faulted Chiao for trying to extinguish the fire without waking the others and for only reporting the fire once it had gotten out of control.
Chiao initially denied that the group lit the campfire, telling investigators that the blaze started when he tripped over a gas stove while cooking breakfast, the office said.
Chiao and other members of the group allegedly deleted incriminating photographs and messages from their phones, while one of the hikers, surnamed Wu (吳), provided a spare phone when investigators issued a search order, prosecutors said.
The blaze burned 79.7 hectares over 12 days — with 22.09 hectares totally destroyed — and caused an estimated NT$228.59 million in damage, prosecutors said.
The five hikers were indicted over alleged contraventions of the Forestry Act (森林法), including charges that they set fire to a forest, which is punishable by a jail term of three to 10 years, the statement said.
The prosecutors’ office said that it would urge the courts to impose heavy penalties, as the defendants showed “poor attitudes” during the investigation.
Meanwhile, the Forestry Bureau said that it would seek full compensation from the hikers for the damage caused by the fire, which would be the largest civil claim in the agency’s history.
The NCC yesterday said it has handed a separate case against Chaio over to the Control Yuan.
Whether Chiao would be allowed to resume his job at the commission or retain his government employee status would depend on a Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission ruling in the case, which involves allegations of contraventions of the Public Functionary Discipline Act (公務員懲戒法), the NCC said.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
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