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A Washington, D.C., man accused of causing one
of the most destructive forest fires in Minnesota history has
committed suicide, his attorney said Tuesday.
      

Attorney Mark Larsen said a relative of Stephen Posniak, 64, had
told him that Posniak died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
      

Posniak was charged with allowing his campfire to burn out of
control in May 2007. The fire spread in the Boundary Waters Canoe
Area and Superior National Forest in Minnesota and into Ontario,
burning 118 square miles in Minnesota and Canada and destroying
nearly 150 buildings worth more than $10 million. Posniak pleaded
not guilty in the case last month.
      

"I spoke with him yesterday he seemed quite acute in his
thinking and quite pleasant over the telephone," Larsen said
Tuesday evening. "He was charged with a very serious felony
offense for conduct that we would have proven at worst was an
accident, and I don't think that helped his outlook."
      

The indictment alleged that Posniak started a paper trash fire
that spread to nearby timber, underbrush and grass and he left the
fire unattended without extinguishing it completely. He was also
accused in the indictment of falsely telling U.S. Forest Service
officers that he had camped on Cross Bay Lake, not Ham Lake, and
that he encountered the fire already burning out of control.
      


The Ham Lake Fire burned for more than a week and cost around
$11 million to put out. The forest fire, rated the most destructive
in Minnesota since 1918, damaged or destroyed some 140 structures
worth about $4 million on the Minnesota side, according to Forest
Service figures, but nobody was killed or seriously injured.
      

The area was very dear to Posniak, who had visited the area
every year at the same time for 20 years, Larsen said.
      

"He was a kind, gentle 64-year-old former federal employee who
found himself on the receiving end of a very serious criminal
charge that in our view was an exercise in overcharging by the U.S.
attorney," Larsen said.
      

Posniak is survived by his wife and daughter, he said.
      

Posniak faced up to five years in prison if he had been found
guilty of setting timber afire. The maximum was six months on the
two other counts: leaving a fire unattended and unextinguished, and
giving false information to a Forest Service officer.
      
      

Gallery

Accused fire starter asks court to throw out police interview

Man pleads not guilty to starting Ham Lake fire

Man charged with causing 2007 Ham Lake forest fire

Disasters

A Washington, D.C., man accused of causing one
of the most destructive forest fires in Minnesota history has
committed suicide, his attorney said Tuesday.

DC man charged in Gunflint wildfire kills self

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