A U.S. boater fined $2.35 million after being accused of sparking a wildfire at a B.C. ecological reserve has lost his appeal of the penalty.
The Forest Appeals Commission found that Duffy Damgaard failed to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that he did not cause the 2018 wildfire on East Redonda Island in B.C.’s Discovery Islands archipelago. The fire burned nearly 660 hectares, including protected ecological reserve land.
The ruling upheld an earlier finding that Damgaard violated provincial wildfire regulations by lighting an open fire to burn garbage during a fire prohibition order on Aug. 24, 2018.
In dismissing the appeal, commission panel chair Daphne Stancil said the panel drew a negative inference from Damgaard’s refusal to testify at the hearing, concluding that any sworn evidence he could have provided would likely have undermined his case.
