Israeli to pay for Chile forest fire
Israeli to pay for Chile forest fire
09 February 2012
published by www.skynews.com.au
Chile — An Israeli citizen accused of negligence which started a massive forest fire in a Chilean national park in Patagonia has reached an agreement in court to pay a $US10,000 ($A9,300) fine and to perform community service.
The court in Puerto Natales, 3,200 kilometers south of Santiago, approved the agreement with Israeli national Rotem Singer, a statement by prosecutors said.
The deal calls for charges to be dropped against Singer, who was suspected of setting toilet paper on fire that led to a fire which destroyed some 14,000 hectares in the 230,000-hectare Torres del Paine national park.
Under the agreement, Singer will perform two years of volunteer service for Keren Kayemet LeIsrael, a group specialising in reforestation, and will help raise funds to replant 50,000 trees.
He had been arrested after a series of wildfires in the South American nations, including one killing seven firefighters. Some officials said radical indigenous activists may have set some of the blazes.
