RENO, Nev. (AP) — Washoe County prosecutors say they won't press charges against the Washoe Valley man whose improper disposal of ashes caused the fire that destroyed 29 homes last January and was blamed for the death of a 93-year-old woman.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Kristin Erickson said in a memo released Tuesday she doesn't believe 58-year-old Lyle Teuscher committed a crime.
District Attorney Richard Gammick backed her conclusion the fire was accidental in nature.
Teuscher told investigators he disposed of the ashes in a metal trailer outside his home about four days before the fire began. Whipped by wind gusts approaching 80 mph, the blaze quickly spread across five square miles just south of Reno. The lone victim, June Hargis, lived near where the fire broke out and died of smoke inhalation.
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