A 30-year-old woman from Palo Alto, CA has been charged with arson relating to the ignition of the Fawn Fire in Northern California near the town of Shasta Lake. According to KRCR TV, Alexandra Souverneva was arrested after being found near the origin of the fire with CO2 cartridges, a lighter, and a makeshift incendiary device.
The series of events can be described as bizarre, to say the least. Souverneva was first spotted near the origin of the fire by a quarry worker around 9 AM. According to the reports, she was acting strange. After being told she was trespassing, she disappeared into the thick vegetation. That afternoon, the Fawn Fire started. In the early evening, Souverneva approached firefighting personnel near the front line of the fire. She made contact with Cal Fire’s Matt Alexander.
The woman’s justification for being in the area was odd at best. She claimed to be hiking to Canada and was severely dehydrated. She told authorities that she was looking for water in the area but only found “bear urine” that she could not filter with a tea bag water filter she had rigged up. Souverneva was arrested and is believed to be responsible for other small brush fires in the area.
Alexandra Souverneva has entered a ‘not guilty’ plea and is being held on $150,000 bail. She is being charged with arson during a state of emergency which carries a sentence of up to nine years. 25 structures have been destroyed by the fire.
Images from: LNU Fire Scanner Facebook Page