California man fined for starting Arizona wildfire, won't serve jail time

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – A California man whose campfire sparked a small wildfire in northern Arizona won't spend any more time in jail.

But 49-year-old Stacy Postel, of Burbank, will have to pay $5,000 in restitution and serve two years of probation.

Postel pleaded guilty earlier this month to misdemeanor charges of violating fire restrictions, abandoning a campfire and giving false information to authorities. His campfire sparked a 4-acre wildfire in the Kaibab National Forest that cost more than $21,000 to suppress.

The Arizona Daily Sun reports that Postel had been jailed from late May into mid-July on outstanding warrants. Under an agreement reached with prosecutors, he won't serve any more time in the fire case.

Postel had faced more than two years in prison and $25,000 in fines.