TALLAHASSEE — A Sebring man has been arrested on charges of igniting a fire that escaped and burned more than 300 acres, damaged a residence’s vinyl siding and caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damages to fence posts.
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam announced that investigators with his Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement arrested Douglas Glenn Smith, 58.
The Florida Forest Service, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, responded to the wildfire in Highlands County. Smith admitted to intentionally igniting a tree stump with a blow torch, which caused the wildfire. Smith had previously submitted a request for a burn authorization from the Florida Forest Service, which had been denied.
Smith is in the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office Jail on one count of Intentional or Reckless Burning of Lands, a third-degree felony.