Until 2020, the largest wildfire to ever occur in Colorado history was the 2002 Hayman Fire, which scorched 138,114 acres of land found approximately 35 miles northwest of Colorado Springs. The blaze destroyed 600 structures, including 133 homes, and killed six people, including five firefighters en route to fight the fire. By the time all was said and done, close to $40 million was spent fighting the blaze, which ultimately caused another $40 million in property damage. Who was to blame for the damage and despair? A US Forest Service technician named Terry Barton, who confessed to sparking a fire in a campfire ring near Lake George amid red flag conditions. To this day, some continue to debate her motive.

According to official statements, Barton was burning a letter from her estranged husband in a moment of distress when she accidentally started the fire. That being said, her official account has been brought into question over the years, with some questioning whether or not a letter existed at all.

Initially, Barton told rangers that she had encountered the fire when she smelled smoke while on patrol in the area. A week later and after Barton’s story faced heavy scrutiny from investigators, she ultimately signed a confession that stated she was responsible for the blaze.

According to Barton’s official confession, the wildfire was accidentally started when she burned a letter the was given to her by her estranged husband in the campfire pit. Barton has made various claims regarding the contents of the letter over the years, including that she didn’t read it, that it addressed the terms of their marriage separation, and that it was an apology.

Barton wrote in her confessing statement, “I decided that I wanted to get rid of the letter. I stopped in the road and thought ‘I’m going to get rid of this thing right now.'”

Barton’s estranged husband later denied giving her the letter (something he would later recant).

Given all of the talk about the letter, investigators found it odd that no evidence of paper was found in the campfire ring where the blaze started when the ash that it contained was analyzed by professionals.

A number of other possible motives were suggested, including one built on the idea that Barton’s actions could have been intentional and due to a hero complex – with her secretly sparking the blaze in order to become the hero that put it out.

Former Colorado attorney general John Suthers has indicated in the past that the state’s case against Barton, had the case gone to trial, would have likely have focused on the ‘hero’ scenario – that Barton started the blaze so that she could put it out.

Barton ultimately plead guilty for starting a fire in federal forest land and for lying to investigators. Initially, she was sentenced to serve six years in Federal prison, along with a concurrent 12-year prison sentence in Colorado. The Colorado portion of the sentence was later overturned, in 2008, under the premise that the first judge may have been biased while sentencing due to how he was personally impacted by the fire. Barton was given 15 years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service in lieu of serving six additional years in a Colorado prison.

Barton’s probation was extended for 15 additional years in 2018, with a judge ordering that she works a full-time job and continues to pay toward restitution. A 2018 article from the Gazette indicates that at that point, she had paid about $15,000 of more than $42 million owed – payments of roughly $150 per month over a decade, though sometimes less. The District Attorney spokesperson at the time, Lee Richards, wrote that “the judge found that she [Barton] made the choice to not pay as much as she could.”

The interest on the restitution is reportedly rising faster than what Barton can pay, with all signs pointing to her paying for her actions in 2002 for the rest of her life.

Despite the debate over the letter and Barton’s possible motive, it is not believed that she intended on starting a blaze that would grow to be as large as the historic Hayman Fire.

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