Two men who started Malibu Corral Canyon Fire sentenced to a year in jail

Two men were sentenced to a year in Los Angeles County Jail for starting the Corral Canyon fire in 2007, one of the worst to strike Malibu in more than a decade.

Brian Alan Anderson, 25, and William Thomas Coppock, 26, were among the five men who, according to authorities, started an illegal late-night campfire in a cave in the Malibu hills, where young people were known to party on weekends.

Authorities alleged Anderson and Coppock were particularly at fault for the fire, which began around 3:30 a.m. two days after Thanksgiving in 2007 because they kicked burning pieces of wood and a pillow or pillowcases out of the cave. The fire destroyed 53 homes.

Both men have already served 200 days in County Jail, and so they have 165 more days to serve, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Susan Speer also ordered them on Thursday to stay away from Corral Canyon, perform 500 hours of community service, and write letters of apology to the 53 homeowners who lost their homes, the five seriously injured firefighters, and authorities who had to evacuate 14,000 people, Robison said.

The men will also be required to pay restitution, which will be considered at a hearing on Oct. 20. At a minimum, Speer ordered them to pay the $7.7 million for firefighting efforts alone, Robison said.

A third man, Brian David Franks, 30, pleaded no contest in 2008 and testified against Anderson and Coppock at a preliminary hearing. Franks was sentenced to five years' probation and 300 hours of community service.

Two other suspects, Dean Allen Lavorante, 22, and Eric Matthew Ullman, 21, have pleaded not guilty and face a pretrial conference on Oct. 20.

The late-night campfire party came at the worst possible time, with the air extremely dry and strong Santa Ana winds gusting up to 60 mph. The winds whipped up the campfire into a firestorm, which spread so fast across hills and canyons that residents had to flee in darkness with no time to save valuables. The fire ultimately burned 4,900 acres.

Using clues from the alcohol containers, food wrappers and bundled fire logs at the campfire site, detectives identified the suspects by checking store receipts at a Ralphs supermarket in Malibu, which led investigators to obtain information from the debit card that authorities believed was used to buy the items.

-- Rong-Gong Lin II

Photo: Brian Anderson, left, and William Coppock talk with their lawyers at their arraignment in Los Angeles County Superior Court in December 2007. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[TheIdahoKid]

Naughty-naughty says the judge, give me your wrists they need to be slapped, for you have been very naughty. 1 (censored) year for burning down 53 homes? what a (censored) joke

[felix]

1 year for destroying 53 lives ???

[watchitgo]

Not enough time, because we know they won't pay back a penny, nor show up for community services. In one stupid, drunken moment they wiped out peoples lives. Apology letters? Yeah right!

[CC]

Wow. 7.7 million dollars. After jail they better go straight to law school.

[Someguy]

If you live in Malibu you should just expect that your house will someday burn down. I don't think 53 lives were ruined if you live on a hill Malibu that probably not your only house. These guy are dumb jerks and I think the sentence is fair.

[kgoddess]

Of course this is not enough time...especially since they won't be paying even a fraction of the costs. They are just lucky they didn't kill anybody.

[Mark]

Dumb city punks.

[steve]

the real crime here is allowing people to build homes in a major fire hazard zone.Whether its lightning or kids partying these homes will all burn down eventually.So why do we waste billions every year to protect these high risk homes.Its beyond idiocy.

[Fred]

While my initial reaction is that it is not harsh enough, I did a LOT of stupid stuff when I was their age......

[jag]

wasnt that fire that caused susan somers home to be destroyd?

[Shawn]

They need to make sure that the punishments are as interesting as possible.

500 hrs of community service - burn unit, or even better - CHILDREN'S burn unit.

Stay away from Corral Canyon - implant a device that will blow their legs off if they get within 5 miles.

Letters to each of the 53 families that lost their homes & the firefighters & authorities. NONE of this computer crap. Each one handwrites the letters, and it has to be at least 500 words long.

And they owe 7.7 million dollars. Well, that's only 3.85 million each. They'll have that paid off by the time they're 97 or 98. Can you say wage garnishment??

[Earl]

I feel bad for the firefighters that were injured and the tax payers that had to pay for putting out the fire but not too bad for the homes lost. I'm not justifying what these idiots did but there are way too many homes in California that should not be there. Every time a home slides off a cliff I say "what kind of idiot would build a house there?" Just like people who continually build and rebuild homes in flood zones. Don't build in a dry fireprone area. Let's stop all the non-sense. These people are just making everyone's insurance go up.

[Citizen]

Almost three years later, the rebuilding of my house still is not complete thanks to incompetent building procedures and corrupt insurance companies. A fire is only the beginning of the disaster. But not to worry, soon we'll have new campsites just up our brittle little canyon so we can go through this all over again. Far out.

In the meantime I'll let you all know when I receive my letters of apology from Anderson and Coppock. I'm sure they're in the mail. (Not)

If they'd stolen 7.7 million dollars (which doesn't come close the the real damages) they'd have gotten more time. Way ta go Judge "Suzy."

[Mikey]

They will be in the news again, just a matter of time.

[Someguy]

It's more justice than the residents of the 9th ward ever got.

[Jones Burrow]

I hope they get assistance on how to pay back all that money otherwise you'll never seen 1/10th of it. Maybe Bush will bail them out

[Kiff]

Talk about light handed. Five LAFD hurt 53 homes = year and letters? Plus you know they will be out in a few weeks for good behavior. Its no wonder people want to get the hell out of this state.

[Corral Survivor]

Earl - Based on your logic, no one should live along the Gulf Coast because of hurricanes; no one should live in the Midwest because of tornadoes; no one should live in California because of earthquakes; and no one should live in New York because of the threat of terrorist attacks.
Having survived the Corral Canyon fire and lost everything I owned, including my pets, I can assure you -- you don't know what you're talking about. It's true: Ignorance is bliss. And you're one ignoramous!

[Jamie]

To Citizen:

If they stole 7 million from someone, that would show criminal intent and then they would have gotten longer sentences. Likewise, if these guys intended to set this fire that would also show criminal intent. The judge understands this.

[Mr know it all]

RAILROADED!!!!

[Mr know it all]

Then after they are released they can get a reality tv show.
Isn't amerika great???!!!??

[mynutsitchsoscratchthemplease]

dude only a year? and 7 mil restitution? wow i guess they is real wealthy?

[chelle]

1 Year REally.. judges are really lazy these days

[Cecilia Jessica Ann Soto]

NOT ENOUGH TIME TO SERVE. SHAME ON THIS JUDGE !! ! !

[Steve]

These idiots should pay for the rest of their lives for what they did to all these people.