Insurer, Individual Settle With Utah City for 2012 Wildfire

Saratoga Springs, Utah, officials have approved a settlement with one of two men accused of starting a 2012 wildfire by target shooting.

The Daily Herald that Jeffery Conant has agreed to pay $35,000 and Farmers Insurance Co. of Washington will pay $100,000. The plaintiffs have reserved claims against the other suspect, Kenneth Nielsen, and excluded him from the terms of the agreement.

The settlement amount approved Tuesday is only 5 percent of the $2.5 million expended by federal, state, and local agencies to control the fire. The 5,000-acre blaze forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 homes in Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs.

Conant has maintained that he and Nielsen didn’t start the fire while target shooting. Tuesday’s agreement has freed him of any liability.