YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — A seasonal concessionaire employee has been sentenced to three months in jail for igniting a small grass fire near the North Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
Park officials say Curtis Faustich pleaded guilty Tuesday to discarding lighted material in a hazardous manner. He said he dropped a cigarette on the ground while sitting at a picnic table July 26.
The blaze scorched 4 acres of grass and sage before it was contained.
Faustich also was sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation, was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution and is prohibited from entering Yellowstone for two years.
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