Utah Man Charged with Starting Second Wildfire

Former state trooper and ex-fire chief indicted

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A former Utah state trooper and ex-fire chief already charged with starting one wildfire is now accused of starting another.

A federal indictment filed Wednesday charges 37-year-old Rex Richard Olsen with starting a May 30 wildfire on Bureau of Land Management land about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Vernal in northeastern Utah.

Online court records don’t list an attorney who could comment on the allegation against Olsen.

Olsen previously was charged in state District Court in August with starting a wildfire last June near Maeser in the same region.

Olsen worked for the Highway Patrol from 2004 to 2012 and again starting in 2016 until he was fired July 1.

He previously served as fire chief in Neola in Duchesne County.

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