Oconto man charged with starting fire at Copper Culture State Park through careless use of fireworks
A 20-year-old Oconto man is accused of carelessly lighting fireworks and causing a fire that burned a field near the museum at Copper Culture State Park.
Ethan Wykle appeared in Oconto County Circuit Court on Wednesday to be officially charged with negligent handling of burning material in the July 31 incident.
Wykle is also charged with obstructing an officer after an Oconto police officer said Wykle lied to him about details of how the fire started.
According to the criminal complaint, Sgt. Brad Shearer responded to a call around 6:40 p.m. July 31 to a report that a grass fire was out of control at 260 Copper Culture Way.
Shearer said he saw flames that were 6 feet high after he arrived and the Oconto Fire-Rescue Department said approximately 0.06 acres of field burned before it was extinguished.
Shearer said he approached Wykle and three other young men in the park to see if they knew what had sparked the fire. An 18-year-old man said they were driving back to Oconto on North River Road when they saw the smoke and flames from Mott Street, and when arrived at the park and saw the fire they decided to call it in to authorities.
After an unrelated witness subsequently told Shearer that he heard a loud bang shortly before the fire started, and Shearer said he noticed two spots on the walking path where it appeared someone had lit fireworks, the sergeant decided to separate the foursome to ask them individually if they knew what happened.
A 23-year-old man said Wykle lit off fireworks at the park, and after they left they subsequently saw smoke so they headed back to the park to try to put out the fire.
Wykle, meanwhile when questioned, continued to insist he did not know how the fire started, but subsequently admitted he did light fireworks off in the middle of the field, the complaint said.
Asked if anyone was with him when he was lighting the fireworks, Wykle initially told Shearer no one was before saying the 18-year-old was, the complaint said. Wykle added after seeing the grass fire start they ran to a truck and left the park.
When Shearer approached the 18-year-old seeking his version of the story again, the teen admitted he was with Wykle when Wykle lit the fireworks. He said the group left the park and returned when they saw the fire from Mott Street. The teen said he lied when initially questioned because he wasn't sure to do once he realized the fire was out of control, the complaint said.
The 18-year-old is being charged with obstructing an officer. He has an initial appearance scheduled for Aug. 17.
The 23-year-old and a 22-year-old were given municipal citations for obstruction. They apologized to Shearer and said they caught off-guard and unsure what to do when they heard the 18-year-old give his initial false statement, the complaint said.
If Wykle is convicted, he faces up to two years and nine months in prison and a $10,000 fine for each of his two charges. He will return to court Aug. 17 to finish his initial appearance.
Contact Kevin Dittman at 920-431-8416 or kdittman@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Oconto man charged with starting Copper Culture fire with fireworks
