The trial of the two men accused of starting the Elk Fire concluded in San Bernardino County’s Joshua Tree Court, with both men being sentenced to supervised probation.
On March 26, Aaron McKeeman and Liam Stinson entered a guilty plea to a felony charge of causing a forest fire, nearly two years after their arrests. Charges of felony arson and misdemeanor code violation were dismissed.
McKeeman was sentenced to two days in county jail and Stinson were sentenced to one, credited as time served for both They each received two years of formal supervised probation.
The Elk Fire was a wildfire that grew to 200 acres in a single day in May of 2022. 125 firefighters from multiple county, state and federal fire agencies responded and had the fire mostly contained within the first days of the fire, and eventually stopped the fire’s growth at just over 430 acres.
Stinson and McKeeman were both 18 years old when they started the fire. Visiting the Morongo Basin from the San Diego area, they were camping in the area and ignited dry brush, before leaving the scene.
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