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A California ‘shaman’ accused of starting a forest fire that threatens thousands of homes has claimed it started by accident – when she was boiling bear urine to drink, according to reports. local reports.
Alexandra Souverneva, 30, faces up to nine years in prison for allegedly starting the Fawn Fire, which destroyed 41 homes and 90 smaller structures and threatened 2,340 others, officials said. She pleaded not guilty.
She is now set to start more fires across the Golden State, according to the Redding Record-Searchlight.
As the Shasta County fire raged on Wednesday, Souverneva claimed she hiked and tried to get to Canada, according to documents obtained by the outlet.
She told forestry officials she was thirsty and came across a puddle of what she believed to be bear urine – and tried to make a fire to boil it, documents say obtained by the point of sale.
She found it to be “too wet for the fire to start,” so she swallowed the water that she thought was animal urine and continued on her way, according to the report.
Souverneva eventually found herself trapped in the brush in the middle of hell and had to call the fire department for help, according to the report.
She was asked to empty her pockets and fanny pack – which contained CO2 cartridges, a lighter and an item “containing a green, leafy substance that she admitted to having smoked that day,” according to the police officer. Cal Fire Matt Alexander.
Workers at a nearby quarry said they saw a woman throw two small CO2 cartridges that matched those found in her bag the same day the fawn fire started, Alexander said in court documents.
On her LinkedIn, Souverneva lists “shaman” as her current occupation and indicates that she was a doctoral student at SUNY’s College of Environmental and Forestry Sciences in New York.
A lawyer for Souverneva said at her first court hearing that she had made statements to law enforcement indicating a possible mental health crisis “or something to do with drug addiction.”
“She is also suspected of having started other fires,” said the lawyer, who was not identified by the newspaper.
Alexander said in a report that “there is a strong possibility that she was also responsible” for a fire the night before.
“In my experience, arsonists… will start multiple fires in a short period of time,” Alexander said, according to the newspaper.
At a press conference, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said Souverneva has been in contact with law enforcement over an arson attack “in our county and other counties. also “, but did not give details.
Shasta County Sheriff Michael L. Johnson announced the arrests to angry residents who had been displaced or had their homes destroyed, The Mercury News reported.
“It’s hard to understand when a disaster like this is apparently not a natural disaster. But we have a suspect, ”Johnson told them.
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